Glass of Silence
by MysticMorgenstern
Summary: "Katherine quickly sped next to her doppelganger and felt her neck for a pulse. She felt the faint beating of the human's heart through her artery. With a sigh of relief that her ticket to freedom was still alive, she fled back into the trees as the ambulance came into view." This is a Kelena fic but follows very closely to the storyline so there is Stelena, Delena, Steferine, etc.
1. Chapter 1

"I know Bonnie, you're right. You and my mom both are. I just can't bring myself to tell him; at least not tonight. I'll call you later." Elena sighed and hung up on her best friend.

"You must be Elena." A voice called out from the shadows.

Elena glanced up, looking around for the source of the voice until her eyes rested on a shadowed figure, clouded in the night, approaching her casually. The stranger stepped out into the flood of brightness from the streetlight. Elena gasped, the stranger standing in front of her was herself; but it wasn't. The stranger had the same face, the same eyes, the same body, the same everything. Except the stranger was distinct, she had curly hair instead of straight, her posture was one of confidence and defiance and her eyes were cold, with a hint of curiousity, where Elena's eyes were innocence and compassion.

"H-how do we look exactly alike?" The stranger took a step forward and Elena took an involuntary step backwards. The stranger eyed her curiously.

"You're asking the wrong questions." The girl replied.

Elena furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. The similar girl's voice was like her own voice, except it had a more husky edge to it, laced with an underlining meaning to every word. "What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, the twin cocked her head to the side and gave a smirk. Elena's breath hitched, thoughts cycling through her mind, thoughts of fear, confusion, and something else that she couldn't pinpoint. The smirk of the mysterious stranger in front of her looked predatory.

"How do you know my name?" Elena asked.

The girl slighted her movement, switching the weight to her other leg, placing her hand on her hip and smirked wider. "That's a better question."

Elena knew she wasn't going to get any further answers from this person who looks exactly like her, so she took another direction. "Not to be rude or anything, but it's kind of creepy of you to be out here in the middle of nowhere."

The girl, taken aback by the statement, let her smirk fade. She considered this comment for a moment before huffing out a dry laugh. "Creepy? Do I scare you?" She questioned, her smirk back on her lips. Elena's jaw tightened slightly in response. "I could say the same to you, being out here all alone, easy prey for creeps in the night." The smirk didn't fade from the stranger's face.

Elena swallowed audibly and her heart began thrumming in her chest. She didn't feel safe out here with this stranger. The stranger smirked widely again, as if she knew something that Elena didn't. Smiling at a joke that only she knew. Nothing bad ever happens in Mystic Falls, but she had this feeling deep down, that it was about to change for the worse. "I'm waiting for my parents." Elena responded with delay to the stranger's earlier question.

The stranger regarded her mirror image with curiousity once again. "What are you really doing out here?" There was a hint of taunt in her voice.

Elena didn't understand the question. "I told you, I'm waiting for my parents. I got into a fight with my boyfriend and-" She cut herself off. Why was she telling this to a stranger who looked like her and also looked like she was going to stab her in her sleep. "What are _you _doing out here?" She tried pressing again.

"My, my, don't you ask a lot of questions."

Elena shifted awkwardly, looking around her, hoping for someone else to come around or her parents to arrive soon. When she turned around, the girl was right in front of her. Elena jumped, startled by the sudden and quiet movement of the stranger.

"Call me Katherine," the stranger said with a smirk. Elena, looking more confused than ever, didn't respond. The stranger was staring at her, eyes focused on hers, "don't tell anyone you met me, I don't want anyone to know I'm alive and kicking." Elena stared blankly back, zoned out in a trance, and simply nodded.

The stranger named Katherine disappeared before Elena was able to refocus on the scene around her. Her mind was blank and she felt confused and dazed. She heard a car approaching and saw her parents come into view; she let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

Katherine laughed silently to herself, as she was able to put fear in her doppelganger's mind. As soon as Katherine had caught wind that the doppelganger might have been reborn, she had to check for herself. This was perfect for her; she could finally use the doppelganger to bargain her freedom from Klaus. If she delivered the doppelganger to him, there is no way that he would still be after her. She can finally have her freedom she has desired for 500 years. She had to make sure nothing got in the way.

While Katherine was casually walking through the woods, looking around for any campers for a light snack, she heard a loud crash and a large splash. Out of curiousity, she went to go investigate the situation.

When she arrived at the incident at Wickery Bridge, she saw that a car had gone over the bridge and was currently sinking to the bottom of the body of water. She looked on, waiting around to see if anything exciting happened but when nothing was happening, she was turning to leave when she heard a smaller splash into the water. She turned around and noticed ripples near the initial impact. Someone had jumped into the water after the car, trying to be a hero no doubt. She laughed to herself at the incompetence of humans and watched a little longer. She saw a blur emerge from the water holding another human. Katherine squinted in order to see who had crashed into the water and noticed that it was her doppelganger. Katherine took a deep breath at the thought that her ticket to freedom could very well be dead, right when she had the ability to snatch her up and take her away.

The figure, a man, laid the girl down on the pavement of the bridge and looked at her with a worried look. Katherine gritted her teeth as she recognized the saviour. "Stefan." She mumbled under her breath. She saw him check the girl for a pulse and dive back into the water, probably to check on the girl's parents. When he resurfaced, he had a grim look on his face and for a moment, Katherine felt her stomach fall. Elena's parents had died.

Katherine continued to watch as Stefan made his way back to Elena, who was unconscious and double checked for a pulse, before running back into the forest. Katherine heard an ambulance approach, ready to see the dreary sight in front of her.

Katherine quickly sped next to her doppelganger and felt her neck for a pulse. She felt the faint beating of the human's heart through her artery. With a sigh of relief that her ticket to freedom was still alive, she fled back into the trees as the ambulance came into view.

Now that Stefan was back in town, Katherine had to be extra careful about her presence and make sure that he didn't find her. Katherine felt annoyance within her as she witnessed her love saving her doppelganger. With a frustrated groan, Katherine went back into hiding within Mystic Falls.


	2. Chapter 2

_Dear Diary, _

_Today will be different. It has to be. I will smile and it will be believable. The smile will say, "I'm fine, thank you. Yes, I feel much better." I will no longer be the sad little girl who lost her parents; I will start fresh, be someone new. It's the only way I'll make it through. _

Elena took a deep breath, settling her nerves for the first day back at school. All summer she had been mourning her parents, getting sympathetic looks and concerned glances from those around her.

Elena placed her diary back in her hiding spot, behind a painting above her bed. She walked over the mirror and fixed her hair and makeup, practicing fake smiles for the day.

Elena had been thinking about that night more frequently than not. She thought about how if she never decided to leave on family night to go to a party, her parents would still be alive. If she had never called them for a ride back home or if she had called at a different time; there were so many "what ifs" that she knew if she mulled them over, she would lose her mind.

She also thought about how she had somehow ended up out of harms way, found on the pavement of the bridge, soaked, while her parents sunk to the bottom of the river in the car she was supposed to be in. She was supposed to be dead.

She also thought about how all summer, she had this feeling that she was being watched, that someone was watching her from a distance almost constantly. Only when she was back at home did she feel like she could relax from the thoughts of being stalked, that the eyes had averted from her, until the next day.

There was also the interaction she had with the mysterious person who looked just like her, the person who had looked at her like she was a meal. _Katherine. _Elena shuddered at the thought. She had wanted to tell someone about her, but she found that she was incapable to. Something was stopping her from telling everyone.

Over time, she had begun to think that maybe she just thought it up, a hallucination. It's impossible for someone to look exactly like you anyway.

Either way, the summer was an unpleasant one.

Elena squared her shoulders and walked downstairs to the kitchen. "Toast. I can make toast?" Aunt Jenna had been taking care of Elena and Jeremy since their parents died, and she had been trying very hard to be a good parent to the teenagers.

"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna."

"Is there coffee?" Jeremy strolled in, looking hopeful towards the coffee. Elena passed him a cup while Aunt Jenna scrambled.

"It's your first day of school and I am totally unprepared," Jenna stated, gathering her things together and pulled out some cast, "lunch money?" She asked. Elena and Jeremy took the bills and headed out.

Bonnie had come to pick Elena up for school and throughout the car ride, she had been reassuring Elena that this year would be different, and also some nonsense about her being a witch. Once they arrived at school, Elena made an effort to keep her distance from conversations that involved "how are you?" "Are you okay?" "I'm sorry for your loss."

Elena was talking to Bonnie and Caroline when she noticed her brother walking into the men's bathroom, eyes glassy and dazed. With a groan of frustration, she followed him inside and cornered him. After a failed attempt of searching her brother for drugs and lecturing him while he stormed out, Elena stalked out of the bathroom without looking. She turned and bumped right into another person, a new person of whom she hadn't seen around before.

The guy had a defined jaw line, light brown hair that went up in the front and soft green eyes. "Uh…" he started, looking around confused as Elena stared up at him with awe. "Uhm, is this the men's room?" He asked.

A brief moment of confusion passed Elena's face before realization hit her, she had indeed, been in the men's room. "Yes, uh, I was just- uhm, I was just…" as she realized she had no real reasoning for why she was in there, she decided to skip the explanation, "it's a long story." She smiled up at him and he returned the smile.

"I'm Stefan." He said finally, after watching her struggle with words.

"I'm Elena." She commented back, with a friendly smile.

_Damn it, Stefan. _Katherine thought as she watched the two leave the school grounds from the safety of the tree line. How was she supposed to get her hands on her doppelganger for Klaus if Stefan was around, and probably going to continue following her around like a lost puppy. It was supposed to be easy: grab the doppelganger, deliver her to Klaus, and gain her freedom. With Stefan in the picture, she knew he would start protecting her, just creating an inconvenient situation.

Although, if she knew Stefan was going to be around, then maybe he would make sure of the doppelganger's safety until it was time to deliver her to Klaus. It would take a lot more effort and planning to get Elena away from the Salvatore brother, but she could manage. If Katherine knew one thing, it was her knowledge of the Salvatore brothers, and with Stefan in town, she knew that Damon would probably be making an entrance sometime soon too. With that in mind, she had to be carefully hidden in order to keep an eye on her prize.

She had spent all summer making sure that Elena didn't die accidentally. The last thing she wanted was another heart stopping moment like the one on the bridge when her thoughts of freedom came crashing down. As long as Stefan was here now, Katherine could take a break from doppelganger watch. She could go somewhere else and plan her way through the next steps and think about all the things she could do if she were free from Klaus' rage.

But despite it all, she had felt inclined to watch over the girl. She had spent much of her time doing so already, it was just one of those things that once you've started, you might as well follow through.


	3. Chapter 3

Elena hesitated outside of the door, a hand outstretched, ready to knock but let her hand fall to her side instead. She turned around, ready to leave, but paused.

Caroline had convinced Elena that she should take the next step in her relationship with Stefan since he hadn't yet. Elena had introduced him to her friends, to her family; they went to a party together, where even though an unfortunate accident with Vicky Donovan had occurred, it was a nice night. The two had stayed up for hours, doing nothing but talking. In a burst of confidence, she had driven to the Salvatore boarding house.

As she stood outside of the boarding house, she let out a nervous sigh and stepped towards the door once again, and rang the doorbell. After a moment of silence, she knocked loudly. As her fist hit the aged wood, the door creaked open slightly. With slight confusion, Elena pushed the door open and peered inside, seeing no one around, she walked cautiously into the boarding house.

"Stefan?" She called out.

She stepped into the entranceway and stared up in awe at the size of the boarding house, with its large fireplace and leather sofa in the living room, with large antiques and a bookcase lining the walls, filled top to bottom with hundreds books. On the ceiling hung a gorgeous vintage chandelier. The entire boarding house had an old feeling to it, a feeling of a time long before this one.

Elena smiled in wonder.

A sound coming from behind her made her turn. She saw the door wide open, which she forgot to close, and thought she saw movement from outside. She walked cautiously towards the door, trying to look at the outside environment. As she walked closer, a crow suddenly flew in, startling her, making her turn to follow the movement of the crow before she came to face with another person.

Elena jumped at the sudden appearance of the stranger. Her heart was thrumming in her chest at the surprise guest and the crow. She noticed the man was standing very close to her. It's not as if she would complain about their proximity. This man was tall, dark and handsome. He had hair as dark as night, and icy blue eyes with the depth of an ocean; he had a well-chiseled body, demonstrated from his thin black t-shirt and was all mystery. His eyes and smile were filled with mischief.

"I'm sorry for barging in, the door was-" Elena trailed off when she turned around and saw the door was shut, "open." She finished her sentence as more of a question as she turned back to the man in front of her.

The man was looking at her with curiousity and amusement, before changing his expression to friendly and welcoming. "You must be Elena."

Elena's heart skipped a beat as a memory tickled in the back of her mind.

"_You must be Elena." The girl with the dark curls took a step out of the shadows, revealing her seductive and predatory smirk and cold eyes. Her movement was graceful and dangerous, a panther ready to strike. The look-alike was standing across from her on the street._

Elena looked at this man now, noticing the same coldness in his eyes. She dismissed the thoughts quickly, "I'm Damon, Stefan's brother."

"He didn't tell me he had a brother."

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag." The older Salvatore kept his smile on his face. "Please, come," Damon said as he reached an arm out and lead Elena further into the boarding house, "I'm sure Stefan will be along any second." He was nice and friendly, leading Elena into the living room, which she was previously admiring.

"Wow, this is your living room?" Elena was impressed by just the shear size of it alone.

Damon looked around with Elena, "living room, parlor, 70s auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste." Elena continued looking around the room in awe, wondering what it would be like to live here all the time and have this space.

"I can see why my brother is so smitten." Damon said unexpectedly. Elena turned back towards him, with a surprised and questioning look on her face. "It's about time, for awhile there I thought he'd never get over the last one." He took a dramatic intake of air, "nearly destroyed him."

Elena dove head first into knowing more about Stefan. "The last one?"

"Yeah, Katherine, his girlfriend?"

_Katherine. _Elena's stomach dropped. It couldn't be the same Katherine she had met the night before her accident? The one that was a spitting image of her but with more sensuality. It couldn't be, it had to be a coincidence. There's no way that Stefan's ex-girlfriend and the girl who looked _exactly _like her, were the same person.

Elena shifted her body, thinking over the numerous possibilities. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."

Elena turned her attention back to Damon. "Nope."

"Oops, well, I'm sure it will come up now." Elena and Damon looked away from each other. There was a hint of something in Damon's voice, as if he knew exactly that that conversation hadn't happened yet. Damon turned back to Elena, a dark look in his eyes, "or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound." Elena nodded silently. "We all know how those relationships end." Damon added again, as he looked away, a fleeting look in his eyes, as if he were elsewhere.

Elena couldn't get it out of her mind; she had to know, "what was she like?"

Damon focused back onto Elena, caught off guard by the question, "who?"

"Katherine."

Damon was silent for a moment, looking off into the distance again. "She was beautiful," his voice was soft, more quiet than it had been just moments ago, "a lot like you in that department," he added quickly, a genuine tone to his voice.

Now, when he said '_a lot like you' _was he being nice, or did he mean a literal mirror image?

"She was also very complicated and selfish. And times not very kind but very sexy and seductive."

Elena thought back to her encounter with the girl and she didn't seem very kind and definitely had the seductive look about her. She wasn't sure, but she had a feeling that this could possibly be the same person but didn't want to believe it. How could she believe that the guy she was seeing had dated someone who looked exactly like her? Is that why Stefan was interested in her?

Elena had wanted desperately to talk to anyone about her encounter, even if it was the older Salvatore brother, but she couldn't and it was infuriating..

In an attempt to steer away from her thoughts, she said "so, which one of you dated her first?"

Damon arched his eyebrow, a silence had fallen on him briefly before he smiled a _'oh shit, I've been found out' _kind of smile. Something stirred within his deep blue eyes, "nicely deduced," he said with a playful tone. "Ask Stefan, I'm sure his answer differs from mine." The playfulness in his voice faltered. Elena looked at him with sympathy as she realized that this Katherine had probably destroyed him as well.

Elena gave him an understanding smile as Damon looked back at her with a sort of, endearment. Suddenly his eyes hardened and a smirk was plastered on his face, "hello Stefan."

Elena turned sharply, seeing Stefan standing in the doorway, an intense look on his face of concentration and hardness. "Elena, I didn't know you were coming over." Stefan didn't move his eyes from his brother as he spoke.

Elena smiled with an apology, "I know, I should I have called, I just-"

"Oh, don't be silly, you're welcome anytime, isn't she Stefan?" Damon interrupted, being a gentleman with intention. Stefan stared at his brother with distaste, never looking at Elena. "You know, I should break out the family photo album, or some home movies, _but _I have to warn you, he wasn't always such a looker." Elena smiled at Damon, enjoying the older Salvatore's humour and jesting towards his brother.

"Thank you for stopping by Elena, it's nice to see you," Stefan responded, completely monotone, briefly glancing at Elena before looking back at his brother.

Elena's smile dropped and she felt the tension in the room increase. She took the hint that Stefan didn't want her here. "Yeah, I should probably go," her voice was low as she turned towards Damon, "it was nice to meet you, Damon."

Damon smiled at her, taking her hand in his own, "great meeting you too, Elena." He lifted her hand and bowed his head down, his dark hair falling in front of his eyes; he touched his lips to her hand, a timely method of meeting another in a gentleman manner. He smiled up at her as he let her hand fall.

Elena smiled politely and turned to leave, standing in front of Stefan who had a murderous look in his eyes, staring intently at Damon. "Stefan?" Instead of responding or looking at her, he simply moved his body out of the way for her to pass. She sighed heavily and let herself out, leaving the awful tension of the Salvatore brothers behind.

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**I know I'm sticking very close to the storyline right now (dialogue included), but it will start changing soon, just enjoying the set up. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:**

**Sorry, this is a fairly long chapter. :]**

* * *

Tonight was the night of the Founders' Party, one of many tedious events where the founding families celebrate and remind people that they were the ones who established Mystic Falls. Since their parents' deaths, Elena and Jeremy hadn't wanted to go to the events but since they were honourary Gilberts, at least one of them had to and since Jeremy had taken it upon himself to stay home, that person was Elena.

Elena had asked Stefan to go with her as her date, despite the fact that she was growing more aware that she really doesn't know anything about him, except that his family was also a founding family.

Bonnie had told Elena that she heard from Caroline of what happened between Stefan, Damon, and Katherine, since Caroline was seeing Damon now. Like the last time Katherine was mentioned, Elena had tensed momentarily before burying it. The story was something about Katherine choosing Damon and Stefan doing terrible things to him, but she wanted to hear the truth from Stefan.

The Lockwood mansion was wonderfully decorated, with a white tent set up outside with many of the townsfolk mingling with each other, the inside was made to look like a museum with its old fashioned furniture and the founding family heirlooms that lined a room.

Elena stood in a red and orange dress, with Stefan by her side with a dark purple dress shirt, dark grey blazer, and dress pants. Elena was looking down at her parents' property, their wedding rings shone under the light. Stefan walked next to Elena, placing a hand on the small of her back, leaning gently over to look at the property. "Your parents?" Stefan asked lightly.

Elena nodded. She walked towards the next display as Stefan skimmed his fingers down Elena's arm and entwined his fingers with hers. Elena felt the sense of safety and warmth from the heat of his touch.

She stopped in front of an old parchment paper, signed with numerous names from the original-founding members on the guest registry from the first founder's party. She looked at them closely and stopped as two names caught her attention. She looked back at Stefan, "is that Damon Salvatore? And Stefan Salvatore?" Her voice grew curious and Stefan stiffened.

"The original Salvatore brothers." A voice came from behind as they both turned and saw Damon walk in with Caroline on his arm. "Our ancestors. Tragic story actually." He stated.

Stefan took a step forward; "we don't need to bore them with the stories of the past." Damon looked at him with a hint of humour.

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to here more about your family." Elena smiled at him, wanting him to tell her more about himself.

Stefan looked at Damon wearily and Damon watched him with a challenge in his eyes.

"Well, I'm bored. I want to dance." Caroline whined from beside Damon. Elena looked between the two boys and saw their tension once again, and instead of getting in the middle of it, she turned to Caroline.

"Why don't we leave the boys to do some talking? Let's go, Caroline." Elena smiled at her friend as she beamed in delight.

Caroline and Elena hit the dance floor, dancing their cares away. Elena always felt a sense of carefreeness around Caroline; she always had that 'go go go' vibe that made Elena just let go.

After awhile, Stefan and Damon had joined them, Stefan taking Elena and sweeping her onto the dance floor and Damon took Caroline. Elena smiled brightly up at Stefan who had smiled a gentle smile. They danced for what felt like hours.

Elena excused herself to go to the washroom where she found Caroline there, fixing her makeup. "Hey." Elena said to Caroline as she approached the mirror next to her.

"Hey," Caroline responded, taking another item from her makeup bag. "So, how are things with Stefan?" She asked to make conversation.

"Great." Elena responded, with no conviction in her voice at all, "just great."

"Really?" Caroline said suspiciously, leaning forward towards the mirror to apply lip-gloss. "Well, my reader must be off 'cause I was getting all sorts of other vibes."

Elena regarded Caroline and saw her scarf slide a little bit and noticed a mark on her neck, beneath the cloth. "What is that?" Elena moved to touch the scarf when Caroline recoiled.

"Don't." Caroline shrugged off her touch.

Elena ignored it and rose up the scarf and saw the wound on her neck, "Oh my god, Caroline, what happened?" Panic was rising in her voice.

"Nothing, okay?" Caroline dismissed her accusation.

"That is not nothing, did someone hurt you?"

"No, it- nothing." She mumbled, while going back to touching up her lips.

Elena pulled down the fabric on Caroline's shoulder and saw another mark, "did Damon hurt you?" She asked concerned and panicked.

Caroline shrugged the cloth back, covering the mark. "No, of course not." Elena went to check again and Caroline shrugged her off again, "just leave me alone, okay Elena?" Caroline snapped and stormed off.

Elena's first thought was to go find Stefan; she exited the house and saw Damon first, she approached him, a smile on his face before she pushed him, "there is something seriously wrong with you." Damon's face fell to confusion. "You stay away from Caroline or I will go straight to her mother, the _sheriff_. Got it?" Damon looked like he was going to say something before Elena continued, "stay _away _from her." She walked passed him, leaving him confused.

Elena quickly found Stefan standing outside next to the fountain. Elena had been warned by Stefan about Damon but she didn't believe him, she thought Damon was a good person.

"I'm sorry, I take it all back, and you're completely right about Damon."

"What did he do?"

"There are bruises all over Caroline's body, bite marks, and he has her all confused and messed up in the head." Elena was panicking. However, Stefan, not looking surprised, shifted uncomfortably. "You don't… Look surprised."

"Uhm…" Stefan looked away, having trouble finding words. "I'm handling it," he responded.

"_Handling it? _Stefan you should be having him arrested."

"Elena, I- please. I don't expect you to understand."

"I don't understand anything, Stefan. So why don't you just clear it up for me?"

"Look, there are things that you don't know. Things that I want to tell you, but I can't and I may never be able to." His voice lowered, almost to a whisper, "and I just need you to trust me." Stefan looked beyond her into the distance briefly before turning his attention back to Elena, "I'm so sorry, I have to go." He walked passed her and into the distance.

Elena stood and absorbed what Stefan had said. _Things that I want to tell you, but I can't. _What things could he possibly be hiding? Elena turned and saw Damon dragging Caroline into the distance and Stefan following. _This is my chance. _

As soon as Elena was close enough to hear and be out of sight, she listened in.

Damon stopped Caroline and she struggled against his grip, "don't-" she started and he turned her towards him, "she took it off and I got flustered, okay? I didn't know what to say, but I _swear _I didn't tell her, I just told her that you didn't mean to hurt me." She pleaded.

Both stood in a brief silence, before Damon turned with frustration and was standing behind her.

"You make me crazy, you know that?" Damon mumbled against Caroline, placing his forehead against her temple. Elena couldn't hear what Damon had said after, but she saw the outline of his lips move and Caroline respond quietly. Damon moved her hair out of the way and lowered his head toward her neck, wrapping his arms around her almost comforting her.

Suddenly, Damon plunged his teeth into her neck, a horrible transformation in his face, as he drained the life out of Caroline. Both dropped to the ground, Damon cradling her body against his as his mouth was still on her until Caroline fell unconscious. Damon then moved away from Caroline, he made terrible choking sounds, a look of pain on his face as it changed back to normal and he fell next to Caroline.

Elena let out the breath she was holding. _What just happened? _She thought to herself. She was about to leave when she saw Stefan emerge from the shadows, walking towards his brother. "I knew I couldn't spike your drink." He was standing over his brother, "so I spiked hers." Damon fell unconscious. _What's going on? What did Stefan mean? _

Stefan grabbed his brother's body and hauled it over his shoulders with ease, carrying him. Elena had enough, she charged out and confronted Stefan.

"Elena?" Stefan looked startled, worried, concerned, and annoyed at once. "What are you doing out here? How much did you see?"

"All of it." She said harshly. "_What are you?" _She spat out, "what is _he?" _she nudged towards Damon.

"Elena, please." He took a step towards her and she took one back.

"Don't come near me!" Tears were streaming down her face. "What are you?" She yelled again. "What happened to Caroline?"

Stefan stared at her with a blank expression. "Vampire. I'm a vampire. So is my brother." He paused, "Caroline is fine."

Elena shook her head, disbelieving, as more tears ran down her cheeks. She turned to run and found Stefan right in front of her, "wha-" Stefan reached out for her, "_don't touch me!"_ she snapped, she turned and began running once again towards the party and towards her car. She couldn't control her crying.

* * *

Driving home was a nightmare. She couldn't see through the blur of tears in her eyes and her heart was beating so hard from fear and confusion. The guy she had been seeing was a monster. Elena had rushed home, without seeing or talking to anyone else at the party.

When she arrived at home, she noticed a figure standing on the porch, shrouded by the shadows. _Please don't be Stefan; please don't be Stefan, _she thought. She needed time.

Elena got out of her car and moved cautiously toward the porch, the figure had moved out of the shadows and stood in front of her, "hello, Elena." The voice was her own voice.

_Katherine. _Elena thought. She did say she didn't want Stefan. Elena froze. She stared at her twin with a look of fear for her own life. "I'm not going to hurt you, Elena." Katherine said with annoyance.

"What are you doing here? You're one of _them, _aren't you?"

"Yup." Katherine said simply, stepping down from the porch, a look of anger in her eyes. "You're an idiot, do you know that?"

Elena furrowed her brows, "what?"

Katherine was standing in front of Elena now; her heels had made her a few inches taller. She was wearing a black leather jacket, a dark red shirt and tight black jeans with black heels. Her dark curls fell around her face, her cold eyes staring right through her. "You need the protection of those two idiots, I don't care if you think they are terrifying monsters," she hissed out, glaring at Elena. "There are worse things that go bump in the night."

Elena shuddered, "they are _vampires, _monsters."

"Don't be so close-minded, _Elena." _Her tone turned sour.

"Why do you care? Who are you _actually? _What do you want with me? Why do we look alike?" Elena spat out questions.

Katherine stared at her with frustration, "you're annoying." She stated, matter-of-factly.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Do you ever _shut up?_" Elena winced at the edge in Katherine's voice. "Go to sleep, and learn to stop asking so many questions. It's annoying." Katherine walked passed her, effectively dismissing the conversation.

Elena turned, "wait, wh-" no one was there when she turned around. She sighed in frustration and turned back towards the door.

Katherine was in front of her again and Elena jumped. "I almost forgot," Katherine said, snatching Elena's necklace from her neck, "you will not tell anyone of our conversations, past, present or future, until I say so." Elena felt the familiar daze and cloudiness in her mind. She nodded obediently and blinked back into focus.

Katherine tossed her necklace back at her and smirked, "that's better." Katherine disappeared a moment later into the night.

Elena looked around in a panic, making sure she was gone and that other vampires weren't lurking around. She ran inside, necklace in hand, locked the door behind her and ran upstairs, shutting her bedroom door firmly before falling against it and let the tears fall down her face.


	5. Chapter 5

After a long, sleepless and fearful night, Elena forced herself out of bed. She had been tossing and turning all night, trying to figure out the information she had learnt last night about Damon and Stefan, and that for some reason Katherine kept showing up. The three of them were vampires. How could she trust any of them? What did being a vampire even entail?

Elena walked sluggishly into the washroom and glanced at her reflection and groaned. Her eyes were red and puffy from tears, dark circles lined her eyes from the lack of sleep, and a look of panic was stricken onto her face as if etched into stone. She took a quick shower, put on some makeup to fix the dark circles, put in a red blouse and a black jacket, and headed downstairs, in some serious need of coffee.

When Elena walked down the stairs and looked into the kitchen, she froze. Stefan was sitting at the dining room table, patiently and cautiously. When he saw Elena, he stood up abruptly, startling Elena and causing her to back up into the wall.

"Elena…" Stefan said gently.

"Don't come near me."

He took a cautious step forward, "I'm not going to hurt you, Elena."

Elena cringed against the wall as he stepped forward, and he froze after seeing her reaction. He took a slow step back, making sure Elena saw his intentions and movements. Her heart was racing and her mind was filled with possible outcomes.

"Please, let me explain. You ran and I-"

"What happened to Damon?" Elena interrupted.

Stefan paused, glancing away for a moment before returning his attention to her, "I took care of it."

"Is he dead? Is that what you do? Do you kill people?" Elena couldn't help herself, panic was taking over and she needed answers.

"No, he's not dead, but he won't be coming back, either." He regarded her carefully, "and I don't kill people, Elena, I don't." His voice became soft, gentle.

Elena looked at him suspiciously, "you don't?"

Stefan shook his head, taking a slow step forward, "no, I don't choose to live that way, I don't hurt anyone." Elena looked skeptical, "let me explain properly. I'll answer any questions you have. Come with me, I want to show you something. Something from my past."

* * *

Katherine decided to take a break from doppelganger duty and went to go visit her favourite werewolf. If for some reason the doppelganger-tradeoff didn't go as planned, she could have a fall back and she needed Mason Lockwood to help with her plans.

After surprising Elena at her house, she realized how pathetic she could be, and yet Elena wasn't as afraid of her as she was of Stefan and Damon. Maybe the identical looks helped her with her comfort, or maybe she was just so scared that she couldn't react. Who knows?

Being in Florida brought back memories of the last time she was here with Mason, when she decided to trigger his curse by force by compelling one of his friends to attack him until Mason killed him.

Katherine knocked on the door to Mason's apartment. He answered a moment later. "Katherine?" he smiled widely, clearly pleased by the sudden appearance of her. He wore a loose pale grey V-neck and faded jeans.

Katherine grinned back and hugged him, "hey, Mason."

The werewolf invited her in and made her coffee while she made herself at home and lounged on his sofa, propping her heels up on the armchair. "So, what brings you back to Florida?" He asked, while handing her the mug of coffee and sitting opposite her on a small leather chair.

Katherine gave him a seductive smile, "why for you, of course."

* * *

"So, Katherine used both you and Damon, and then turned you?"

Stefan had been telling Elena about his life from start to finish, about how him and his brother were very close before Katherine came to town in 1864, compelling both of the brothers to keep her 'company' and to not tell the other. It had put a barrier between the Salvatore brothers and once they turned, they parted ways. Stefan had also talked about how he feeds on animals, rather than humans like other vampires, but of course Elena was focused on Katherine. She needed to know more about the mysterious vampire who looks identical to her and is insistent on random appearances.

Stefan had taken Elena to his old property from when he lived in Mystic Falls over 100 years ago, the building that used to be here was in ruins and overgrown with trees and weeds. Elena was sitting on a worn bench that had lasted through time, looking up at Stefan who was standing above her, rolling up his button down shirtsleeves to his elbows.

"Yes, she wanted all of us to be together, forever. But it didn't work out that way." Stefan reached down, underneath a rock, and pulled out a ring.

"Is that Damon's ring?"

Stefan nodded, "I took it from him, but I have to give it back. If I don't, he'll retaliate and hurt me the only way he can; by hurting you."

Elena looked at Stefan, the sunlight shining down on his face, making his eyes shine and his hair look like it has copper highlights; he had fear in his eyes for what his brother could do. He worried for her, her safety, and her life. She believed that he wouldn't hurt her, but still wasn't sure about her feelings for him.

The two made their way back to the car when Stefan gently grabbed her hand and turned her towards him, "I need you to keep that necklace on. It has vervain in it, it will protect you from being compelled." Elena touched her necklace that Stefan gave her before she knew he was a vampire.

Elena thought back to the night before, how Katherine had pulled the necklace from her neck and told her to never mention their conversations and she complied. "Is there another way to stop compulsion? What if someone takes the necklace off and compels me?" She needed another way to avoid being compelled, because clearly the necklace wasn't going to work 100% of the time.

Stefan looked at her thoughtfully, "you could ingest it. Put it in your food or your drinks and it'll avoid compulsion and also stop anyone from feeding from you."

Deep in thought, Elena nodded, "do you think I could borrow some?"

Concern briefly flashed in his green eyes, "is there someone you are trying to protect yourself from?" His tone was filled with concern, worry, and hurt from thinking it might be himself who she is trying to protect herself from.

"No, I just-" she stumbled on her words as she thought about telling him about Katherine but the compulsion stopped her, "just can't be too safe, right?"

Stefan smiled softly, "no, no you can't. I'll get you some."

The two rode back into town in silence. Elena was deep in thought about what she had heard from Stefan and tried to put all the pieces together. Stefan and Damon believed that Katherine was dead, but she clearly wasn't and Katherine did mention about not telling anyone she was around during their first meeting because she didn't want people to know that she was alive. So, why was Katherine back? And why hadn't she made herself known to the Salvatore brothers? She kept these questions in her mind for the next time she crosses paths with her.

The main question though, was why Katherine and Elena were identical. Stefan never mentioned that they looked the same, which means he is purposely keeping it a secret. Does he know _why _they look the same or is he just trying to avoid any more complications in the already flimsy relationship?

Stefan had walked Elena up and inside her house when they saw Jeremy and Matt in a panic. "What's going on?" Elena asked.

"She's really messed up," Matt replied.

Jeremy was on the floor, back to the couch and Vicky was looking erratic and confused.

Elena was standing next to Vicky, assessing the situation when Stefan moved her gently out of the way, "Elena, back up." Stefan tipped Vicky's chin up, looking intensely in her eyes, "Vicky, you okay? Focus." He whispered to her gently, she was looking back at him, attention on him, "you're going to be fine." Vicky nodded in understanding. "Everything is going to be fine." He turned around to Matt and Jeremy, "guys, take her up to bed, shut the blinds, she's going to be okay." The boys rushed to her side and hurried her upstairs.

Elena had no idea what was going on, she paced in the kitchen, worried about her friends and her brother. Stefan walked back into the kitchen with concern. "You know what's wrong with her?" she asked.

"Yeah." He stood in front of Elena now, keeping his voice down.

"What is it?"

"She's transitioning. Into a vampire." He elaborated at Elena's confused look. "Damon must have gotten to her, she's new, she hasn't completed her transformation yet."

"H-how does she do that?" Elena stammered.

"She has to feed on human blood."

"And what if she doesn't?"

Stefan paused before continuing, "she'll die."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for the reviews and follows and such! I appreciate it greatly! :D **

* * *

It has been two days since Vicki Donovan fed and turned into a vampire. Stefan and Damon have been teaching her how to stay in control while she stayed at the Salvatore boarding house.

This was Elena's first experience in the vampire world since she was told about how everything works from Stefan, and she felt permanently on edge.

She knew Stefan wouldn't hurt her, at least, she hoped he wouldn't, but she wasn't sure about Damon or Vicki. Elena had gone to the boarding house to check up on things, and Vicki threw her against the wall, hand clenching Elena's throat, effectively cutting off her airways until she dropped Elena to the ground and left. And as for Katherine, Elena hasn't seen her since she found out about vampires but couldn't be too safe and made sure to check every shadow. She was now ingesting vervain, making sure that she couldn't get compelled again.

Tonight was the Halloween dance, and as unmotivated and uninterested as Elena was, Jeremy wanted to go so she was inclined to go as well to make sure he doesn't run off to find Vicki. Despite the fight that Elena and Jeremy had gotten into about not seeing Vicki for a while, they had gone together anyway.

Elena was dressed up in her Halloween costume from last year, a bloody nurse, and Jeremy simply had a black sweater on, hood pulled up over his face.

The dance had black lights and a strobe light, cheap Halloween decorations, and cliché Halloween music playing throughout the school. When the Gilbert siblings walked in, Elena spotted Matt, who was wearing his matching costume to Elena's from last year, a bloody doctor. He smiled brightly and approached her and Jeremy, "you went with last year's costume too, huh?"

"Yeah, I didn't know I was coming until an hour ago," she replied, looking around curiously at the scenery.

"Me neither," Matt replied, keeping his smile before looking over at Jeremy, "and you're going as… you?"

Jeremy glared at him before breathing out a sigh and storming off further into the party.

Elena followed him with her eyes, watching him leave. "He's not talking to me right now, we got into a fight," she elaborated.

"Yeah, I got into it with Vic too when she got home." Elena turned her gaze back to Matt. "I'm trying not to smother her too much tonight but part of me didn't want to let her out of my sight."

Elena was stricken with panic, "she's here?"

"Yeah, you can't miss her, she's a vampire."

_If only you knew, _Elena thought. She looked around frantically, "where did Jeremy go?"

"Elena, what's the matter?" Matt asked, noticing her panic.

"I've got to go."

Elena paced after Jeremy in the direction she saw him walk in, pulling out her phone at the same time, and sent a quick text to Stefan and Damon about the situation. She had been searching every hooded figure, every male, and every masked person in the school, looking for Jeremy.

She heard a scream coming from outside, behind the school where the school busses are parked. She ran out, grabbing a piece of wood for a weapon and saw Vicki, cornering Jeremy against a bus, "Vicki, no!" Elena yelled, getting her attention.

Vicki tossed Jeremy to the side and lunged out towards Elena, fangs out, eyes crimson. Elena attempted to hit Vicki full force with the plank but Vicki caught and threw the board aside, going after Elena again who had began to run. Vicki tossed Elena into the air, and she crashed into a pile of wooden crates, scratching and cutting into her skin. The vampire came at Elena once again, pulling her violently from the wreckage and dug her vampire teeth into her neck.

Elena screamed and tried to fight Vicki off, using all of her strength to wriggle free but only being caught in a tighter hold, being over powered easily from the vampire. Suddenly, someone pushed Elena to the ground, and Vicki had a piece of broken wood pierced into her heart. The vampire turned grey and fell to the ground, motionless.

Elena looked at her saviour, and saw Katherine. "I leave town for a few days and I come back to you being chased down and mauled by an irrational newbie vampire with the Salvatore brothers no where in sight," Katherine breathed out, irritated, "I really hope this doesn't become a common occurrence."

"W-what are you doing here?" Elena stammered, holding her stomach, which had a gash in it, blood leaking from her wound.

"Saving your useless ass, apparently." Katherine placed her hand on her hip, glaring down at Elena.

Elena stood carefully, keeping pressure on her wound, "were you following me?"

"Oh, no, of course not. I just love high school dances," the vampire said, sarcasm dripping with every word, and a smile twitching on her lips. She turned and saw Jeremy watching, looking completely distraught, traumatized, and confused. "Little Gilbert, why don't you come over here for a minute."

Elena tensed, "what are you doing with him? Jeremy, don't come over here!" She yelled over at her brother who froze mid-step.

Katherine turned her piercing gaze back at Elena, "you want him to remember all of this? I'm pretty sure I just stabbed his girlfriend who tried to eat him," she said casually.

"I-" Elena looked at her brother, he was frightened, his eyes wide and panic clear on his face, and tears started falling down his cheeks when he looked at the now dead Vicki. "Okay," Elena whispered.

Katherine sped to the younger Gilbert, mumbled something that Elena couldn't hear, and walked casually back to Elena, "all done."

"Why are you doing this, saving me, erasing his memory? Why?"

"Does it matter?" The vampire shot back bitterly. Suddenly, Katherine's head shot up and smile spread across her face, "have fun coming up with a story," she laughed before disappearing.

_Ugh, she needs to stop doing that, _Elena thought. Suddenly, Stefan and Damon came rushing in and took the scene in. Stefan ran to Elena's side, examining the wound on her side and cuts on her face and arms, "what happened?" Concern and shock was clear on his face. Damon stood back, looking at the now dead Vicki and dazed Jeremy.

"S-she was hurting Jeremy, I had to do something," she spat out, trying to formulate her story.

Damon looked at her suspiciously, "you stabbed her?"

"I had no choice, she was hurting Jeremy," Damon regarded her up and down; looking both impressed and unconvinced.

Stefan cupped Elena's face in his hands gently, "are you okay?" Elena nodded, "and Jeremy?" Elena glanced at Jeremy; he didn't seem to know what was happening.

"I don't know, I think Vicki compelled him or something before she attacked me. He doesn't seem to know what happened." The lie came out easily and not because of the compulsion from Katherine, but because she wanted to keep Katherine's appearance a secret on her own. She had saved her, and she needed to know why and she wouldn't get those answers if Stefan and Damon got involved.

Damon had gone to check on Jeremy's compulsion while Stefan fed her some of his blood to heal her wounds, "you'll be okay." Stefan said quietly into Elena's ear.

"I know," she responded quickly.

Damon strolled back to the two of them, "it seems he was compelled to forget everything that happened tonight and he believes that Vicki left town and isn't coming back. He seems okay with it, actually, so I don't know what the exact details of the compulsion are." Damon looked over at Elena, "it's better that way, no loose ends, no one to kill," he added with a smirk and dark tone.

"Damon," Stefan said warningly.

Elena was shocked. She didn't expect Katherine to do anything else besides take his memory of this night away, but she had compelled him to move on with his life and believe that his girlfriend wasn't dead, but just out of town. From what Elena had heard from Stefan about Katherine, was that she was cruel and selfish, but this wasn't selfish, it had nothing to do with her and she did it willingly. Why?

There were too many questions she had that she wasn't expecting to get answered anytime soon.

Elena felt Stefan's hand rest on her shoulder and she glanced up to meet his eyes. "Let me take you home, Damon can take care of this," he said gently. Elena inspected Damon and looked over at her brother and back at the older Salvatore brother, he followed her gaze to Jeremy and turned to Elena, nodding in silent agreement to get Jeremy home. Despite what Stefan thought of his brother and how bad he seemed, there was a good side to him, somewhere.

She returned her gaze to Stefan, and nodded.

* * *

Stefan walked Elena to her door, and she was about to open it, she abruptly turned around to look at Stefan intensely who regarded her curiously.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Is it always going to be like this? Danger every minute, possible death, my friends getting caught up in this? My brother almost _died _today!" Stefan remained silent. "What are we going tell people, Stefan?"

"We'll come up with a story, we'll come up with something," he said hurriedly, clearly worried about the direction of this conversation.

"You mean we'll come up with a lie. I can't keep lying to everyone."

Stefan was silent for a moment, thinking. Elena couldn't keep up this charade and couldn't keep lying to everyone and being with Stefan was dangerous for her and everyone she loved.

"I'm so sorry," Stefan finally said, softly, genuinely.

Elena looked at him with sad eyes; she was fighting the urge to let tears spill. Her and Stefan had grown close, shared their first kiss under the stars, shared the human experience of school with the cheerleader-jock couple, shared silent nights simply enjoying each other's company and nights of endless talking until the sun rose, and he let her into his secret world. But he was still keeping secrets, and now she had to keep these dark secrets too.

"I understand that you would never do anything to hurt me, and I promise I will keep your secret but," her voice lowered, a lump caught in her throat, "I can't be with you Stefan." Elena watched the hurt cascade over him, his eyes filled quickly with pain, a look of shock on his face at her words as if she just pulled the rug out from under him. She had to do this, she didn't know how she felt about him and she had a lot to process. Stefan remained silent, "I'm sorry, I just can't," her voice was a whisper. Saying this to Stefan was breaking her heart and watching his face fall made her want to break into tears.

With no response from him, Elena turned and walked inside; unable to bear seeing the pain she caused him. She shut the door and leaned against it, breaking into tears over the night, over her almost loss of her brother and over Stefan. It seemed like the only thing she was doing lately was crying.

After Elena's tears had stopped flowing, she walked lazily to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and forcing down another spurt of tears. She sniffled while going to the fridge to get some water. When Elena closed the fridge she saw a figure standing where the fridge had blocked, and it caused Elena to drop the bottle of water on the floor and jump back instinctively. The lean figure was her mirror with dark curls, dark eyes, and a dark intention. "K-Katherine?" Elena muttered in surprise.

"Hello, Elena," The vampire responded, cocking her head and adding a smirk.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for the reviews 3 - Author's note**

* * *

_When Elena closed the fridge she saw a figure standing where the fridge had blocked, and it caused Elena to drop the bottle of water on the floor and jump back instinctively. The lean figure was her mirror with dark curls, dark eyes, and a dark intention. "K-Katherine?" Elena muttered in surprise._

_"Hello, Elena," The vampire responded, cocking her head and adding a smirk._

* * *

"How did you get in?" Elena stammered, stepping away from the vampire in front of her.

Katherine sauntered passed her and skimmed her fingers lightly over the kitchen counter, glancing casually around the boring kitchen. "Aunt Jenna was kind enough to invite me in," Katherine said, looking over her shoulder at Elena with a devilish smirk.

Panic coursed through Elena, "what did you do to her?"

"Absolutely nothing," she said calmly.

Elena relaxed slightly, breathing out a sigh of relief. She followed Katherine with her eyes as she strolled through the kitchen with curiousity, but not really looking at anything in particular. "What are you doing here, then?"

"Oh, you know, I was just in the neighbourhood." Katherine paused at a cylindrical object next to the coffeemaker, and poked at it, raising her eyebrow in slight confusion.

"It's a strainer," Elena elaborated, noticing her face. "For tea." Elena tried to stifle a laugh at Katherine's disgusted face.

Thee vampire moved away from the object, and leaned against the counter. "I couldn't help but overhear your unfortunate breakup with Stefan," Katherine said suddenly as she turned to face Elena and Elena's face fell. "I guess that means he's back on the market," Katherine said, a mischievous smile spread across her face.

"What do you want, Katherine? Why haven't you shown yourself to Stefan or Damon? They think you're dead. Don't you want them to know you're alive?"

"Not yet," Katherine replied simply.

"Why do we look alike?" Elena figured that if Katherine was in an answering mood, she could keep asking until she was satisfied.

Katherine looked bored as she sat up on the counter in the kitchen, her hands placed lazily to her sides, and her legs dangling from the counter, she yawned to emphasize she wasn't interested in answering.

"Are we related?" Elena tried again, a different angle.

Katherine glanced out the window briefly before returning her gaze to Elena. "Something like that," she replied. Before Elena could respond, she continued, "but we're so far apart that I could hardly say we're blood related at all, no more than you and anyone else here anyway. We're as related as you and Stefan are."

Ah, she was finally getting somewhere, "then why do we look alike?"

Katherine hopped down from the counter, "ah, witches and their magic," she said, which only brought more confusion to Elena.

"_Witches? _As in, broomsticks, pointy hats, voodoo..." How many supernatural things were actually out there that she wasn't aware of?

Katherine scoffed, "I wouldn't say that to a witch if I were you." She started scavenging through the cupboards and the fridge, not paying Elena any attention.

Elena sighed in frustration, "why are you here? Why are you following me? Saving me?"

Katherine closed the fridge and turned to another cupboard, "does this place have _anything _to eat or drink?" Katherine was avoiding, that much was clear.

"Why are you here?" Elena repeated.

Katherine turned and started walking towards Elena, her steps deadly, and her eyes filled with hunger. "It's rude not to offer your guest a snack," she said, her voice dark, and her lips curling.

Elena tensed and took a step backward, touching the wall behind her with her palms flat against it. "You wouldn't." Katherine cocked her head, her eyes turning crimson and dark veins protruded from under her eyes. Elena swallowed hard, "there's a reason why you're keeping me safe, why you haven't killed me, you won't do anything." Elena's voice was hurried.

The vampire was standing in front of Elena now, only inches apart. "Don't tempt me, Gilbert. My plans can change accordingly whether you're alive or not." Elena's heart thundered in her chest, panic was taking hold of her once again for the hundredth time tonight.

"I plan to keep you alive for now, but that doesn't mean I can't have a little taste," Katherine purred, lightly brushing Elena's hair away from her neck, her fingers ghosting against her throat. Elena's breath caught at her touch. "But," Katherine dropped her hand and stepped back, "_someone _has been ingesting vervain."

Elena let out the breath she wasn't aware she was holding. "I need you to do me a favour, Elena." Katherine said, walking back to the kitchen counter.

"Why should I do you any favours?" Elena spat out, pushing herself off of the wall and moved to the opening between the kitchen and living room, providing ample space between the two.

"Family sticks together!" Katherine exclaimed with mock seriousness and enthusiasm.

"You just said we weren't family."

Katherine shrugged, "you'll do it because I've kept you alive and you owe me."

Elena sighed in frustration, is this why she was saving her? To call on her for favours whenever she pleased? "What do you want?" she replied, giving up. There's no point in arguing with a vampire.

"It's simple really," Katherine stepped over the spilt water on the floor from when Elena dropped it earlier, "I need you to keep the Salvatore brothers off my trail. Damon knows that I wasn't killed back in 1864 and he's currently trying to open the tomb, thinking that I was trapped down there. Of course, Stefan will find out soon enough."

Elena furrowed her brows, "tomb? What tomb?"

"Having that tomb opened isn't ideal, but I have my plans if it does get pried open," Katherine continued, ignoring Elena's question. "Damon has already screwed up enough."

"What do you want me to do about that? Seems like a you-problem, not a me-problem."

Katherine smiled knowingly at her, "you don't know the half of it." Elena eyed her curiously. She knew something that she wasn't sharing. "So, keep it hush-hush."

"What does it matter anyway? That compulsion you did last time is still in effect. I can't even think about mentioning anything about our talks or meetings without feeling like I'm choking or my mind going blank."

Katherine smiled victoriously at her handy work with her compulsion before continuing, "Easy, keep them distracted. If they get too close, steer them another way. If that doesn't work, play along with their stupid games. Believe what they believe and go with what they tell you. I don't really care, do whatever."

Before Elena could respond, she heard Aunt Jenna's car pull into the driveway and turned towards the door before looking back to where Katherine was to see empty space. "Dammit, can you stop doing that? It's annoying!" She groaned.

She heard a faint laugh of the vampire before it faded and she knew she was gone.

Elena stepped back into the kitchen and slouched against the counter. Now she was forced to work with Katherine? And she had to deceive Stefan and Damon and who knows whom else. She hoped that breaking it off with Stefan would provide some breathing room with all this supernatural business, but that was hardly the case. She looked down at the floor at the water and sighed heavily, moving to get some paper towel.

The front door opened and Aunt Jenna walked in, looking frustrated. "Hey, Elena." She threw her bag on the side table next to the door and hung her coat on the stair railing. She eyed the water on the floor, "what happened?"

"Just slipped from my hand," Elena responded, taking the paper towel over to the puddle to dry it up. "Are you okay? You look beat."

Jenna sighed, "Yeah, Logan just happened to disappear though. Only left me an email saying he was leaving for awhile."

Elena looked over at her aunt, "I'm sorry, Aunt Jenna. That must be tough." She really didn't know what to say. Logan Fell had caused Aunt Jenna so much pain and heartbreak in the past and when she thought they were in a good place, he up and left again.

"It's alright, I'm going to go to bed though," she dragged herself to the stairs. "Make sure to clean that up, young lady," she called out in her mock parental authority.

Elena laughed for the first time tonight, "goodnight, Jenna." She called back up.

The night was just filled with fear, heartbreak, and confusion.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Sorry about the delayed update D:**

* * *

The vampire leaned lazily against a tree, while staring blankly at the Salvatore boarding house. It had been a few days since Katherine had last talked to Elena and she was currently on a watch for the Salvatore brothers to make sure they aren't getting close to the tomb.

Katherine sighed heavily, wishing that she had something, _anything, _else to do right now. In the past two days, many things have occurred, but none that really grasped her attention.

Lexi, Stefan's friend, had come back into town for Stefan's birthday. Katherine had never met Lexi, but she didn't like anyone who shared the attention of her Salvatore. She had witnessed the two at a U2 concert decades ago, and felt the need to break the bitch's neck, but refrained. While Lexi was in town, Damon decided to take it in his own hands to get rid of her, and killed her. In response, Stefan had almost killed his brother; quite eventful, but nothing that Katherine needed to monitor.

The sky had darkened and clouds hung heavily in the night sky. The sound of insects filled the silence before Katherine heard an engine of a car pull up to the Salvatore boarding house. She focused on the car and watched as Elena stepped out.

Katherine raised her eyebrow in curiousity, and pushed herself off of the tree and moved closer to the boarding house, still out of view.

She had only seen Elena with Stefan at The Grill for his birthday and she watched as Damon killed her, but that was two days ago, and she hasn't been to see either Salvatore since.

Katherine hid herself on the side of the boarding house, leaning her back against the wall and cocking her head to hear what was happening inside.

She heard Elena knock on the heavy door, before opening it herself, "Stefan? Are you here?"

Katherine let out a silent huff. "Up here," she heard Stefan call. She heard footsteps go up the stairs and pause.

"I just wanted to see how you were, you know, with everything with Lexi."

"I was this close Elena-" He probably made some gesture, "this close to killing him. But I couldn't, I couldn't stoop to his level."

"I know, Stefan, I know." There was a long pause before Elena continued, "I was hoping we could talk."

Katherine groaned. She hoped this wasn't going to be some awkward love confession with her listening in.

"I just wanted to apologize for thinking that stopping what was between us could stop any harm from coming to the people I love." Elena said, quietly.

"You had every right, don't apologize. I understand completely."

"It wasn't right of me-" there was a long pause, longer than there should be. Katherine tried to concentrate harder to hear anything, but there was just silence. She took a few steps from the wall, looking towards the boarding house with confusion.

"Elena, wait!" Stefan's voice was loud in Katherine's ears. "Please, let me explain." Footsteps pounded loudly down the stairs and she heard the door swing open and Elena charged out, running to her car. Katherine flattened herself against the wall until Elena's car left the premises. The vampire knit her brows together in confusion as to what happened and left quickly.

Katherine followed the road; unconsciously moving in the direction her doppelganger drove off in. She was definitely curious as to what happened, but she wasn't in the mood to hear any drama. She was about to turn around and go elsewhere, when she heard a loud crash and metal scraping against pavement.

She groaned in frustration so loudly that it was probably more audible than the crash.

She sped over to the wreckage and saw Elena's car turned over on the road with glass shattered and pieces of the vehicle everywhere. Katherine walked over to the side of the car and kneeled down to see inside.

Elena screamed loudly when Katherine showed herself, "can you calm down? It's just me." Katherine replied, annoyed at the sudden scream.

"Th-there was a m-man," Elena mumbled out in between cries.

Katherine narrowed her eyes and stood quickly, cautiously scanning the area for anyone and honing her senses to listen for any nearby movements. After hearing nothing, she kneeled back down, "there's no one around," she said calmly. Katherine eyed the girl trapped inside the car and an amused grin spread across her face. Elena was hanging upside down, only being held in by her seatbelt. "So, you just hanging out, or…?" Katherine cocked her eyebrow and her grin spread wider as Elena shot her an annoyed look. She was enjoying this more than she should.

"I'm stuck," Elena tried to wiggle free but to no avail.

"I see that. You know, you should probably stop getting in cars, I always find you in these ridiculous situations. "

"Can you just help me?!" Elena shot out, angrily. Katherine feigned hurt at the outburst and stood up as if to leave, "Katherine, please. _Please_," Elena pleaded, her voice breaking.

The vampire paused for a beat too long. She turned back to the car and peered inside. Elena was struggling and tears were streaming down her face as she tried to unbuckle the seatbelt. "Alright, stop," Katherine said quietly. Elena turned to look at Katherine, her brown eyes were shining from tears and panic and pain was stricken in her features. Katherine swallowed and her features softened. "I need you to place your palms against the roof the car, alright?"

Elena looked skeptical but nodded in compliance.

"On three, I'm going to break the seatbelt buckle, I need you to brace yourself against the roof so you don't break your neck." Elena nodded again. "One…" Elena braced her palms against the roof, "two…" Katherine grabbed the buckle, "three." Katherine ripped the buckle out and Elena fell towards the roof, her arms almost giving out, before Katherine reached in placed her arm around her doppelgangers waist and carefully pulled her out.

Elena winced as Katherine repositioned Elena to carry her some ways from the wreckage, putting her left arm underneath Elena's knees and her right arm around her back, with Elena's head leaning weakly against Katherine's shoulder. Katherine was carrying her like some child, before placing her carefully on the ground. Elena was having trouble staying conscious.

Katherine stood, and turned to evaluate the crash of the car. There was a large indentation in the front as if she hit something. Or someone, as Elena mumbled earlier. The vampire browsed the edges of the road once more. Nothing had changed. "Katherine?" Katherine turned her attention back to Elena with a blank expression. "Thank you," Elena said, her voice drifting as she was having trouble keeping her eyes open. "I mean it," she mumbled, before falling unconscious.

Katherine kept staring expressionless. It had been a long time since someone acknowledged anything she had done, mostly because she hadn't done anything for the benefit of others. Her lips twitched into a smile before fading into a frown. She glanced around her before picking up the young girl and carried her off towards the tree line.

_I need her alive. I'm keeping her alive for my freedom. _Katherine kept reminding herself. _No other reasons. _


	9. Chapter 9

_The trees swayed loudly from the high winds, leafs bombarded the bark and twirled like small tornados on the ground. Heavy clouds blocked out the light from the moon, leaving the forest in darkness. There was no sound besides the wind; all of the creatures in the forest had stilled, hidden away in their burrows or long gone from the area. There was no sign of life. _

_Elena stood motionless in a small clearing in the forest, leafs brushed roughly past her legs, and the wind cut through her light jacket and jeans. The clouds had parted ever so slightly, allowing the moonlight to beam through and bring some light into the clearing. Elena glanced around, seeing nothing but shadows and hearing nothing but the wind in her ears. Her heart rate picked up as she started to panic. Where was she? How did she get here? She felt eyes on her, from every direction; several pairs of eyes were watching her. _

_She couldn't move, every time she did, a pain shot through her body, leaving her paralyzed. Her breathing quickened when she heard movement from behind her, in front of her, everywhere. The eyes were moving closer. She couldn't see them, but she could feel their presence. Her surroundings started to blur, as if she were moving quickly but she was standing still. The eyes drew closer. She tried to move again, only to be held from behind. Someone was grabbing her, keeping her in place. She couldn't turn to see who it was, she couldn't scream, her voice was gone. She struggled but it was useless. The eyes were surrounding her; she saw how they were all crimson. _

_Her voice wouldn't come, her body wouldn't move. She stood as the bodies surrounded her, the trees still in a constant blur from a movement that wasn't happening. She felt a sharp pain in her head but she couldn't cry out. She felt a pain in her ribs; she felt a pain in her legs. Suddenly one of the eyes had lunged at her, fangs out. _

Elena woke with a start, bolting awake. She was strapped into something, a car. A seatbelt was holding her in place and the window was open, allowing a breeze to pass through. The sun shone brightly in her eyes, causing her to squint. Her whole body was in pain, as if every muscle was bruised. She groaned as she tried to shift her position, bringing her more pain. Her head was throbbing and she was having trouble remembering what had occurred.

She was driving and then… she hit someone. The car tumbled and the person, the man, got up like it was nothing. Then... She turned her head abruptly and saw Katherine eyeing her curiously while driving. Katherine raised an eyebrow and turned back to the road, not saying anything. Elena remembered last night clearly. She was still looking at Katherine, remembering how she had pulled her out of the car and moved her away from the wreckage.

"You're staring," Katherine stated.

"You saved me."

"I did," she responded.

"Thank you." Elena was truly grateful. She wouldn't know what would have happened if someone hadn't been there.

Katherine glanced over at her blankly and turned back to the road, not saying anything further, which, from Elena's previous encounters with her, seemed a little off. That's when she fully realized that she was in a car with her, going somewhere far from where she was supposed to be. "Er, where are we?" Elena asked, looking out of the window of the sleek car and only seeing fields.

"Georgia."

"_What? _I have to get home, the car, I have to tell Jenna," she tried to sit up properly but winced and leaned back against the seat. "What are we doing here? Why are we here?" Elena felt around in her pockets, "where's my phone?" she was panicking. She shouldn't be here, not in Georgia and not with Katherine.

Katherine reached into her black leather jacket and pulled out Elena's phone, silently handing it to her while still looking ahead. Elena checked her phone, 6 missed calls and 2 voicemails from Stefan, 2 missed calls from Jenna, and numerous texts from Bonnie, Caroline, and Jeremy. Elena sighed and pocketed her phone. "So, why are we in Georgia?"

Katherine wasn't looking at her at all, hardly acknowledging that she was also in the car. "Got some business to take care of," she responded.

"And you had to take me with you?" Elena raised an eyebrow at her twin.

"You're right, I should have just left you in the street," Katherine responded bitterly.

Elena looked away. The comment stung but she wasn't going to let Katherine see that, "someone's in a mood," she mumbled under her breath, mostly to herself.

Suddenly, the car jerked to the right and skidded to a stop on the rough gravel. They were parked outside of a large open field where cows were grazing and eating grass. Katherine turned to Elena, "if you would rather get out and walk home, be my guest. I don't _need _you here, you can leave," she was glaring at the human intensely.

"If you don't need me here, then _why am I here?_"Elena shot back.

"For fuck sakes, Elena," Katherine replied angrily. Before Elena could respond, Katherine pumped the gear in drive and sped off, causing the wheels to skid slightly before they found traction on the road. "You were better company unconscious," the vampire mumbled.

The two sat in silence for almost an hour. Elena kept thinking about why Katherine was so moody and why she brought Elena. She hoped this 'business' in Georgia wouldn't last long because she had to get home. She couldn't be out with Katherine at all, she felt like it was incredibly unsafe and very stupid.

Elena looked around the car. It looked very new, it was completely clean and there was nothing lying around. You'd think someone would have personal effects in their car or anything that proved that the car had an owner. Elena began to think that the car wasn't Katherine's and that she stole it. She shoved the thought away.

Elena glanced over at the vampire. She looked like she wasn't entirely here, like her mind was elsewhere. Her brown curls cascaded down softly, her left arm propped up by her elbow on the window, her hand lazily resting on her cheek while she drove with her other hand. Her black leather jacket hung tightly against her frame, her eyes were unfocused on the road in front of her and then- they were looking back at her. Elena blushed, embarrassed to be caught staring for the second time and turned to look out the window to try and avoid the casual glance from the vampire.

A phone rang, startling Elena and she fumbled for her phone out of her pocket. She looked at the caller ID, _'Stefan Salvatore'. _She groaned and was about to put the phone back in her pocket when Katherine's hand stretched over, palm up. Elena was skeptical but placed the phone in her hand. Katherine eyed the ID briefly before bringing the phone up to her ear.

"Stefan?" Katherine answered, in a perfect impersonation of Elena.

Elena could hear Stefan on the other line, "Elena? Where are you? I've been calling and you never picked up. I was worried."

Katherine sighed, "I know, I'm sorry." Elena was impressed by Katherine's impersonation, but it also worried her about how well she can pretend to be her.

"Let me just explain, where are you?"

"I just need some time to think, Stefan. I'll call you back later." Katherine hung up and tossed the phone back to Elena. Elena eyed her quizzically. "What? You're a horrible liar and if you ignored him, he'd keep calling," Katherine stated matter-of-factly.

Elena nodded slightly in agreement and turned back to look out the window; she didn't have much to say to the vampire. The silence between the two started to grow again before Katherine spoke up, "so, why did you bail in such a hurry from the Salvatores'?"

Elena turned to her, "you saw that?" Elena cocked an eyebrow, "you follow me." She stated.

Katherine let out a humourless laugh. "Please. I'm keeping tabs on the boys," she responded simply, "so, why'd you leave?"

"I saw a picture he kept of you." Elena saw a smirk spread on the vampire's lips. She narrowed her eyes at Katherine.

Katherine looked over and let out another humourless chuckle, "well, it's not _my _fault he keeps it. It's not surprising though, he'll always love me, whether he'll admit it or not." Katherine smirked, a mocking smile, in the direction of Elena. "Besides, you are clearly well aware that we look _exactly _alike. It shouldn't have been a surprise."

"Well, no. But he doesn't know that I know. What did you say a few days ago? '_Play along'_? Well, I am," Elena looked away, "besides, it still gets to me," she whispered. She glanced back over at Katherine and noticed her smirk was gone and her face was expressionless once again, staring blankly ahead.

Elena didn't want to sit in silence again, so she steered the conversation elsewhere. "Who do you think the man was? The one that I hit?"

"Are you sure you actually hit someone, and it wasn't just your horrible driving skills?" Katherine's lip twitched.

Elena glared at her, "yes, it was someone, actually. He was wearing a black hoodie."

"Oh, how specific." Katherine responded with sarcasm.

Elena shot her a look. Katherine was one of the least helpful people she has come across. "I'm being serious," Elena sighed and glanced around at nothing in particular. "When I hit him, his limbs were all disjointed but he placed them back in easily and he started walking towards me," Elena paused, "and then you showed up."

"Well, if I ever come across him, I'll be sure to rip his heart out," the vampire responded with intensity. Elena turned sharply towards her and saw how the vampire's features were tense and hard but relaxed subtly and a dark smirk emerged on her face.

"You can't just-"

"Oh, but I can," Katherine interrupted. "I can do as I please." Elena was about to protest when Katherine added, "we're here."

Elena looked out and saw that they had parked outside of an old looking bar with nothing to really make it stand out. Katherine turned the engine off, and got out of the car, leaving Elena inside the vehicle. Katherine glanced back inside the car, "coming?" she cocked an eyebrow at her young twin. "Or am I going to have to lock you in here like some child?" Elena groaned as she moved, still in pain from the accident the night before, and followed Katherine into the bar.


	10. Chapter 10

"What are we doing here again?" Elena asked. She eyed her surroundings curiously. They were in a dusty old pub where the tables were sparse and the patrons were busy drinking far too early in the day. Katherine and Elena were sitting on the barstools at the bar, Katherine was tapping her fingers impatiently against the wood and Elena sat awkwardly, wishing she could get back home.

"I need to talk to someone," Katherine responded. She turned her gaze to Elena and scanned her up and down. "You should relax. Have a drink," she smirked.

Elena stiffened. She didn't want to drink here, not with Katherine, and not with strangers. "I'm not of age, I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Well, it's a good thing you're with a vampire then, isn't it." Katherine waved down the bartender and signaled for two drinks of… Elena didn't know.

The bartender returned with two shots and slid them towards the girls, "ID?" he asked.

Katherine glanced up and focused on his eyes, "I don't think so. Keep serving us." The vampire's pupils dilated and the bartender blinked and nodded with a smile and walked away. Katherine pushed a shot towards Elena.

"I don't really want to drink," Elena mumbled.

Katherine raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on. Loosen up, get that stick out of your ass and have some fun," she urged, raising her shot glass, waiting for Elena to do the same.

Elena scowled at the vampire and grabbed the alcohol, raised it to Katherine's glass and glared as Katherine smirked in victory. Elena threw the shot back and grimaced at the burning feeling the liquid left behind and pounded the glass back on the hard wood. Katherine did the same.

"See, not so horrible, now is it?" Katherine waved for two more shots from the bartender and he complied quickly with the drinks. Elena shifted in her seat and winced from her sore muscles. "Drink more, it'll fix that problem right up," Katherine grinned, responding to Elena's pain.

Elena sighed and tossed the next shot back, her face twisting in disgust at the taste but the alcohol was going down smoother now. Elena thought back to when Katherine had saved her from the car accident. Something she had said had been bothering her but she couldn't put her finger on it. She looked at the vampire now and saw as she tossed back her shot and put the glass gently on the table, turning it absentmindedly. "You're staring an awful lot today." Katherine turned towards Elena with a bored expression.

"S-sorry," Elena stammered, turning away. Elena felt Katherine's eyes piercing through her and tried to ignore it. She kept her gaze down towards her empty glass, fiddling with it and tapping her fingers against the bar. She risked a glance back towards the vampire and saw that Katherine was still staring. Katherine raised an eyebrow and Elena furrowed her brows. "What?"

Katherine shrugged and waved down the bartender again.

After two more shots, Elena began to feel dizzy and tipsy. She finally began to relax and she didn't mind being out with Katherine. Everyone around them just assumed that they were identical twins and not two strangers who met only months ago. Katherine was drinking the same amount as Elena, but clearly had a much higher tolerance than Elena to alcohol because she still looked as blank as ever.

Elena was blatantly staring at Katherine. "You either have a very serious face, or you have a menacing face." Elena blurted out, narrowing her eyes at Katherine in accusation. The vampire turned in surprise towards Elena, who was on her fifth shot. She tossed it back and eyed the vampire again. "Maybe you should be the one to relax," Elena smirked.

Katherine was about to respond when someone tapped on her shoulder. Elena glanced up and saw a tall woman standing behind Katherine. Katherine grinned and stood up, bringing the woman in for a hug. Elena cocked an eyebrow at the action.

The woman pulled back and looked Katherine up and down with a smile, "well, if it isn't Katherine Pierce," the woman exclaimed.

"The one and only," Katherine responded with a smirk, she glanced back at Elena and back to the woman, "sort of."

The woman looked over at Elena and froze. She looked back and forth between Katherine and Elena before returning her gaze to Katherine, "is she-" Katherine put her finger to her own lips to shush her. "Amazing," the woman said to no one in particular.

"This is Elena," Katherine introduced without enthusiasm.

"Hello, Elena. I'm Bree. I own this fine establishment," she smiled while gesturing around at the dreary bar.

"Are you also a…" Elena drifted off, nudging towards Katherine as an example.

"A vampire? Oh, hell no. I'm a witch." Elena gaped in surprise. She remembered Bonnie telling her that she was a witch but she didn't believe her until she had burst in her room while she was sleeping, slaughtered one of her pillows and made the feathers float majestically around her. She had forgotten about that somehow until now.

"I need to talk to you," Katherine said to Bree while eyeing Elena, "in private."

Elena pouted but waved the bartender for another drink. Bree nodded and the two supernatural beings left to back room.

* * *

Bree lead Katherine into an office at the back of the bar. Bree closed the door and turned to Katherine. "It's a little stupid bringing your doppelganger out in the open _with _you, don't you think?"

"I know, but there was a… complication," Katherine replied. She never intended to bring Elena with her to Georgia, she didn't even intend to come to Georgia today, but she just found herself driving here anyway. Bree gave Katherine a suspicious look. "What?" Katherine spat out.

Bree smiled, "what are you doing with her?"

"I'm using her to gain my freedom," Katherine stated. "I have to keep her alive until I turn her over, which is proving to be difficult since her life is in peril so often, it's ridiculous – why do you keep looking at me like that?" Bree was staring at Katherine with a smug smile.

"Katherine Pierce, looking out for someone besides herself," Bree stated.

Katherine glared at her. "She needs to stay alive."

"Until you hand her over like a lamb to slaughter," Bree gave Katherine a questioning look. "Will you be able to do it when the time comes?"

Katherine narrowed her eyes at her, "of course."

Bree looked out of a foggy window that watched over the bar. Katherine followed her gaze and saw Elena with a group of people having a competition for who could finish their shots first. Elena downed her shot first and loudly cheered, throwing her arms up in the air with a huge smile on her face. The people around her were laughing and enjoying themselves and Elena ordered some more drinks for everyone. Katherine was now regretting the unlimited alcohol she provided for her doppelganger because now she'll have to deal with a wasted Elena on the way back.

"Then, you're going to have to stop bringing her with you on random adventures," Bree said. Katherine turned her gaze back to her.

"I'm not here to talk about the lamb. I'm here to talk about Damon Salvatore," Katherine responded with an edge.

Bree cocked her head, "Damon Salvatore? Well, I haven't heard that name in years." She sighed and looked off into the distance as if remembering something and a sly smile appeared on her lips. "He was great in the sack," she said.

Katherine disregarded what she said and continued; "he's probably going to come to see you soon. He thinks I'm in the tomb and he's trying to open it. I'd prefer if you didn't give him any information."

"Of course, I do still owe you. Besides, I have a friend who is interested in Damon Salvatore."

"Thanks," Katherine replied. She looked back out the foggy window and saw Elena with a beer in hand, dancing and jumping around with a group of strangers.

"Be careful, Katherine." Katherine glanced back at Bree and saw a curious look in her eyes as she watched Katherine looking at Elena.

Katherine turned back to look out the window briefly before making her way to the door. "Always am," she mumbled before leaving.

* * *

"Katherine!" Elena yelled loudly over the music and ran over to Katherine who was making her way back to the bar. She draped her arm around the vampire's shoulders and felt Katherine tense at her touch but ignored it as she led her towards the group of people.

"A little drunk, are we?" Katherine asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"I'm not even a little drunk!" Elena yelled. "My tolerance is like, way up _here!" _she jumped up and raised her hand in the air and laughed. Elena sat Katherine down at the bar and ordered a shot for her, and another beer for herself. "Have a drink!"

Katherine looked at her questionably but took her shot quickly and leaned across to whisper in Elena's ear "I prefer my drinks…warm."

Elena tensed at her meaning and watched as Katherine stood and walked over to a small group of guys by the pool table and led one of them away in the back. Katherine looked over her shoulder at Elena and winked, purposely trying to frighten the human.

Elena shook it off, knowing that she couldn't do or say anything to stop Katherine from hurting that innocent man. As Elena was sipping on her beer, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and hastily pulled it out. "Hello?"

"Elena." Jenna's voice rang through the phone, and Elena remembered she hadn't checked in with her at all since she left last night.

"Jeennaa! Hold on, it's loud in here." Elena grabbed her bag and jacket and made her way to the back exit.

"Elena, where are you?" The worry was evident in her voice. "Are you okay?"

"Hm?" Elena shrugged her jacket on while trying to stay on the phone. "Yeah. No, I'm good. Everything's fine. Hold on, I can't hear you." Elena pushed her way out of the back door. Elena stumbled on a step that led outside and tripped, dropping her phone. She quickly stood up and picked up her phone, "hello-"

Someone had grabbed Elena from behind, covering her mouth and sped off further behind the building. She was pushed roughly against the brick wall and felt the figure leaning against her, keeping her in place. Elena tried to push them off but they were too strong to move. Elena looked up and saw Katherine staring intensely back at her. "Wha-"

Katherine pressed her hand against her mouth again. Bringing her index finger to her own lips to indicate to her to be quiet. Elena stilled and kept her mouth closed, her body tensed and fear took over her. Was Katherine going to kill her? What was happening?

"Stop fidgeting," Katherine hissed harshly in her ear. She pulled back and let go of Elena, causing Elena to relax and try to put some distance between the two. "Damon is here, time to leave."

"Damon?! Wh-" Katherine clapped her hand over her mouth again.

"Will you stop yelling? He'll hear you. We have to go. Now." Katherine grabbed Elena and led her silently back to the car in the front of the pub. They saw Damon's Camaro parked next to them. Elena started laughing but covered her mouth. She quickly got into Katherine's car and shut the door loudly. Katherine climbed in after and glared at Elena for the loudness. The two sped off and headed back to Mystic Falls, back to Stefan, and back to the drama. Elena sighed and sat in silence, thinking about how she's going to have to deal with Stefan when they got back.

* * *

**AN: Thank you for the reviews, follows and favourites! :'D**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry about the delay! This is kinda long in comparison to the others; I was going to split it up, but just decided to throw it all into one. :D **

* * *

_Footsteps echoed loudly off of the narrow walls of the alleyway late at night. Dirt and garbage littered the small area and the light rainfall dampened everything, causing a rancid scent. The alleyway was abandoned, but the flickering streetlights caused shadows to dance across the concrete, giving the illusion of quick movements skittering across the dark pathway ahead. _

_Elena staggered through the alley; sweat beading at her forehead and tired eyes threatening to shut permanently. She stopped and leaned her right hand against the wall, as if to catch her breath. Her surroundings were harassing her senses, as if the light raindrops were as loud as thunder, the flickering lights as bright as the sun, and the smell as if she were drowning in garbage. She assessed herself and saw that she was covered in blood. _Is this my blood? _She had no recollection of what happened. _

_Her throat was the worst though. There was nothing comparable to the pain and discomfort she was feeling in her throat, lungs, and stomach. It felt as if her throat was made from sandpaper, rubbing together so harshly that it might catch light with every ragged breath. It burned and left a harsh sting every time she tried to speak. Elena continued to make her way through the alley, trying to fight her own body's pain. _

_Someone stumbled into the alley, clearly very drunk. The man spotted Elena and walked towards her with a smirk. Elena paused, gripping her clenching stomach. The man was talking, saying something, but Elena couldn't focus on his words. All she heard was his heart beating, his blood pumping, and the flow of liquid through his body. That's what Elena needed. Her body acted on her own, she felt a piercing feeling in her mouth and her heart rate increased harshly. Elena dove forward, and grabbed the man by the back of his neck and plunged her teeth into his neck. Blood filled her mouth and eased the pain in her throat. Bloodlust took over as she devoured every drop of this man's life source and let him drop dead to the cold, wet ground. Elena stood and held a victorious smirk across her lips. The lights flickered dramatically before cutting out completely, leaving the alley and Elena with her kill, in darkness. _

A loud knocking brought Elena back to consciousness.

Her heart raced. _Another dream_, she thought. She gazed around lazily and found herself in her bed with the clothes she was wearing last night still on. She didn't remember getting home or getting into bed, but somehow she made it in one piece from her night with Katherine.

The knocking persisted. "Elena?"

Jeremy.

"Come in, Jer," Elena responded groggily. She felt the immediate after effects of her drinking when she tried to sit up and felt her stomach churn and her head throb. She lay back down on the bed and tried to ignore it. Jeremy cracked the door and popped his head into her room before opening the door completely and stepped forward. He arched an eyebrow at her.

"What?" Elena asked.

"Where were you last night? Jenna is pissed." Elena groaned. She forgot about Jenna. She forgot about pretty much everything last night. "Where's the car?" Jeremy asked.

Elena froze. She completely blanked out on the fact that she wrecked the car. "I, uh-" she scrambled trying to think of something before sighing and decided on telling the truth, "I crashed it," she mumbled.

Jeremy's face suddenly turned into brotherly concern, "oh my god, are you alright? Are you hurt?" He took a few long strides forward and sat on the edge of her bed, eyeing her and checking for wounds.

"I'm fine, Jer. Just a little stiff. I have to tell Jenna though, I feel horrible."

"Well, you're going to have to wait until tonight, she went to school to study."

Elena furrowed her brows. "On a Saturday?" Jeremy shrugged, and then inspected his sister with a look of suspicion. "What?" Elena asked, concerned.

"Were you out drinking last night?" A look of realization crossed his features, "is that how you wrecked the car, were you drinking and driving?" His tone turned furious and disbelieving.

"What? No, Jer. I crashed the car and _then _went out to drink," she defending herself. "Please don't tell Jenna."

Jeremy let out a chuckle and stood up from her bed and walked towards the door, "your secret is safe with me." He was about to leave before he turned around again, "oh yeah, your boyfriend is downstairs waiting for you," he smirked.

Elena paused, "who?"

"You don't have to pretend you're not dating him, we all know." He made kissy noises and Elena groaned and threw a pillow at him that he successfully dodged, and he laughed while retreating around the corner. "I'm going out!" her brother yelled from a safe distance.

Elena lazily got out of bed and took a quick shower, disposing of the clothes from last night, which smelt like smoke and alcohol from the bar, into the hamper. After a hasty wash, she noticed numerous bruises on her body from the car accident. She lightly touched one and winced, reminding herself to avoid physical contact with people for a while.

She threw on sweat pants and a black tank top, planning to spend the day in her home and recovering from her night. She hesitated at the stairs but descended to check who had come over. She walked into the kitchen and rolled her eyes, seeing Stefan at the table. Of course it was Stefan.

"Elena," he stood as he saw her approach.

Elena kept walking, putting up a finger to indicate _'shh'_ as she went over to the cupboard and grabbed some Advil and put on some coffee. When she turned back towards Stefan, he had a worried look on his face.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Just a headache." She took her mug of coffee and sipped it and took her Advil with it. She leaned her back against the kitchen counter and stared at Stefan, who was watching her cautiously.

They stood in silence for a moment before Elena put down her mug, "you could have told me," she said flatly, responding to her finding the picture of Katherine in Stefan's room the night she crashed.

"I wanted to tell you-"

"What am I to you? _Who _am I to you?" Elena questioned; she had always wanted to know. The question had burned in the back of her mind as to why Stefan was interested in her. Was it for her, or was it because she perfectly resembled Katherine?

"You are not Katherine," he stated simply, fully confident in his answer. "You are the opposite of everything she was."

_That much was true. _"And when did you figure that out? Before you kissed me?" Her voice rose.

Stefan looked away, considering his answer. He kept his head down as he answered, "Before I met you."

Elena froze. "What?"

He looked up to her, meeting her brown eyes with his green ones, "first day of school, when we met. It wasn't for the first time, Elena."

She paused; trying to remember any other moment she could have crossed paths with him, but couldn't think of any, "then when was it?"

"May 23rd, 2009."

"But that was-"

"That was the day your parents' car went off the bridge."

Elena felt her heart sink. Her mind raced at the memory of her parents and the idea that Stefan was there. "You were there?" She asked, through gritted teeth.

"Every couple of years, I come back here; to see Zack and to see my home. And last spring, I was out in the woods, by old Wickery Bridge." He approached Elena carefully and slowly, who had pressed herself against the counter. "And I heard the accident," he continued, "all of it." Elena was fighting back tears at the memory. "I was fast getting there, but not fast enough. The car was already submerged." Stefan whispered. "Your dad, he was still conscious, I was able to get to him, but he wouldn't let me help him until I helped you."

Elena was in tears, and she let a sob escape. "O-oh my god." Tears fell from her eyes. "When I woke up in the h-hospital, no body could figure h-how I got out of the car. They said it was a miracle."

"I went back for them, but it was too late I-I couldn't- I couldn't save them," he stammered, guilt washed over him. "When I pulled you out, I-I looked at your face and you looked like Katherine, I couldn't believe the resemblance. After that, I spent months making sure that you weren't her. I watched you, I learnt everything I could about you and I saw that you were nothing like Katherine." He took a pause, "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you."

Elena processed this information, wiping her tears from her cheek. "Why do I look like her?"

Stefan looked like he would rather stay on the subject of her dead parents. "Elena, you've been through so much-"

"Why do I look like her, Stefan? What are you not telling me?"

He noticeably swallowed, "it didn't make any sense to me. You are a Gilbert, she was a Pierce, but the resemblance was too similar. And then I learnt the truth." He took a long pause. "You were adopted, Elena."

Elena felt like the air around her thickened and felt difficult to breathe. As if everything she knew came crashing down. Katherine had told her that she was related to her, but she assumed it was still apart of the same family, of _her _family. Her parents weren't her real parents; her brother isn't her real brother. Stefan explained that he checked her birth certificate and the admission of her mother in the hospital and it didn't add up but it was her father's signature on the birth certificate.

She felt overwhelmed with information. She needed time to process everything. She asked Stefan to give her some space for a while but he paused. "There's something else I need to tell you before I leave. It's Damon."

Elena didn't really care about any information about Damon at the moment and would much rather bury her head in her welcoming bed upstairs. "What about him?"

"He- he believes Katherine is alive and within a tomb under a church that burnt down in 1864. He wants to open to tomb and I think he's found a way how."

Elena already knew this but she tried to put on a surprised face. "What?" She spat out.

"I told him I'd help, but I'm not, Elena. I lied to him. We can't let him get into that tomb."

Oh. This is what Katherine had wanted her to do, to make sure they don't get into the tomb. "I'll help you."

Stefan gave her a small smile, and closed the distance between them, kissing her cheek lightly. "You should take some time to think about everything, I'll think of some plans."

After Stefan left, Elena forced herself upstairs. She couldn't comprehend the idea that she was adopted and that her family lied to her. She couldn't comprehend that Stefan was there during her accident and saved her life.

She walked into her bedroom and saw her window open and a dark figure lying on her bed. Elena froze before she recognized the figure.

"A little creepy that he stalked you all summer, huh?" The vampire smirked.

Elena groaned at Katherine's presence. "A little creepy that you always appear where I am, huh?" Elena retorted. The vampire tilted her head in a slight shrug and cocked an eyebrow as if to say _'fair enough'. _Elena shut the door behind her and turned to face Katherine who was watching her curiously with a bored expression. She was propped up on her elbows in her usual black leather jacket, a navy tank top and black skinny jeans with boots. Her legs were laid out in front of her, one on top of the other. "How much did you hear?" Elena asked.

"Everything," she replied blankly.

"You knew I was adopted." Elena was furious. Everyone had been keeping secrets from her all her life and even though she never expected Katherine to tell her anything, it was still frustrating.

"Of course," her twin smirked.

Elena clenched her jaw. "And you never told me?" she spat out.

The vampire shrugged, "never asked." She stood from the bed and took a few steps towards the human. "It's not my responsibility to tell you anything, unless it benefits me."

Elena bit back a snarky remark. She suddenly remembered something that was bothering her last night, a fleeting thought. Something that Katherine had said when she found her in the car.

"_You know, you should probably stop getting in cars, I always find you in these ridiculous situations."_

Elena's eyes widened. "You were there," she mumbled.

Katherine was now looking through Elena's belongings, bored. "Where?" Katherine picked up a picture frame from Elena's dresser with a picture of her parents, Jeremy, and herself.

"Wickery Bridge! The night my parents died! The night I met _you._" She yelled bitterly. Her patience was running low and tears threatened to fall again.

Katherine looked over her shoulder at Elena, and turned back to the picture, "yeah, I was," she stated.

Tears formed in Elena's eyes and she quickly wiped them away and walked over to Katherine and snatched the picture from the vampires' hands, "you could have done something! You could have saved them!" She gripped the frame tightly; her hands were shaking violently.

Katherine turned around fully and faced Elena with a blank expression. "And give myself away to Stefan? What good would that do me?" She raised an eyebrow in question.

Elena felt like screaming, like punching the vampire in the face for being so selfish. "You heartless bitch!" Tears streamed down her face and didn't bother to wipe them away. The vampire kept the same bored expression. "Just because you don't have a family, doesn't mean you had to let mine _die_!"

The vampire gripped Elena's neck harshly, and threw her up against the door in a blink of the eye, and held her in place with her strength. Elena choked and tried to struggle but failed. She tried to blink away the tears and saw how cold Katherine's eyes had become, how hardened her features were and how enraged she was. Elena crossed a line. "Don't you _dare _talk about my family," she threatened. "Stefan was pulling you out by the time I got there," she tightened her grip on the human's neck. "Your family was already _dead._ Be happy you survived." Katherine released Elena and she fell to the floor, coughing for her breath and sobbing. "Plan with Stefan to keep his brother out of the tomb."

With that, Katherine disappeared, leaving Elena on the floor in her bedroom with tears streaming down her face. The picture frame had fallen next to her and she grabbed it and looked at it. Her parents smiling happily at each other while her and Jeremy were posing in ridiculous positions with each other. She clutched the picture to her chest as a sob escaped her lips and she curled up on the floor with the picture and let her tears fall.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: This was pretty quickly written, I apologize. D: I'm trying to get somewhere and need to set it up. =p** **(a poor set up, but a set up nonetheless ;D) I'm horrible at this lol**

* * *

Elena and Stefan have been collaborating to deceive Damon in the last two days. They have figured out that Damon is after Emily Bennett's grimoire, the witch who put the spell on the tomb to seal it shut, to try and reverse the spell. Stefan and Elena agreed to help Damon find the book and open the tomb, but are going to find the grimoire first and get rid of it so Damon can't open the tomb. It wasn't the most soundproof plan ever, but they had to do something.

As a show of good faith and to get onto Damon's good side, Elena had invited him over for dinner with the family. Or more like, he decided to come to dinner on his own and she just agreed to tolerate his presence with her family. Stefan was busy finding a journal that would help them locate the grimoire.

Damon got up from playing video games with Jeremy and walked into the kitchen to help Elena with preparing dinner, or to bother her. It was most likely the latter.

Elena was walking towards the table with a handful of plates as Damon was walking towards her and walked into her, edging around her. "Oh-mmm," Damon mumbled in fake surprise at her immediate presence.

Elena shook her head and continued to walk towards the table, letting out a dry laugh. "Don't do that," she said, unimpressed.

"Do what?" She heard him ask from behind her, with feign ignorance.

She continued placing the plates on the table, "you know what. That move was deliberate."

"Yeah, I was deliberately trying to get to the sink." She turned as he waved a hand in the general direction of the sink. She laughed; she couldn't help it. There was something about the older Salvatore and his attitude that she found humorous. He started to stir the sauce in the pot on the stove. "Speaking of Stefan," he brought up, "where is he? He's missing family night. Which I am enjoying immensely." He turned around and smirked at Elena and she smiled lightly back. There was a brief pause as he turned back around to the stove. "Is it real?"

"Is what real?" Elena asked, turning her gaze back to the vampire.

"His renewed sense of brotherhood?" He brought the wooden spoon to his mouth to taste the food. He turned back around to Elena, his face serious and weary. "Can I trust him?"

Elena knew this was going to come up. There was always a sense of distrust between the brothers and she was aware she was going to get into the middle of their brotherly feud. She took a breath, "yes, you can trust him," she said simply, turning back around to place the remaining dishes on the table.

She heard Damon speed quietly behind her and she turned to face him, trying to keep an honest expression. "Can I trust him?" Damon asked, his gaze focused and his voice low.

"I'm wearing vervain, Damon." Elena stated, annoyed that the vampire would try. "It's not going to work."

Damon narrowed his eyes at the human, "I'm not compelling you." Elena raised a brow. "I just want you to answer me. Honestly."

Elena felt a stab of guilt. She felt sorry for the older Salvatore. Elena and his brother were betraying his trust in order to stop him from getting to the girl he loves, who obviously had no interest in him since she was frolicking around town, ignoring both of the Salvatores. Elena had been growing bitter towards her vampire look-alike for a while now and seeing Damon so determined to get the girl he loved back, and her showing no interest in him, had made her feel annoyance and a growing dislike for Katherine. But right now, she had to stay on track, she couldn't back out now.

"Of course you can," she said after a moment. Damon stared at Elena for a long moment, regarding her carefully, before Elena stepped around him and walked away.

Damon turned to look at Elena, "there was a time where I trusted him more than anyone."

Elena tossed back some cheese and shot Damon a look, "trust breeds trust. You have to give it to get it," she said simply and grabbed the bowl and walked over to the table to add it to the dinner contents.

"Are you lecturing me?" Damon asked with surprise.

Elena stopped in front of him and placed a hand on her hip, looking authoritative. "Do you need to be lectured?"

"I just want her back," he shrugged. "I'm sure you can understand that."

Elena paused. She could see the desperation and need that showed in his gaze. She could also see a flicker of hope at him seeing Katherine again after so long. "I can understand that you would do anything for her, yes." She brushed past him and leaned over, placing the bowl on the table behind him.

Damon turned until he was standing behind her, she could feel the closeness of their bodies. "Then, you understand what I will do if anyone gets in my way," Damon's threat held truth. Elena had no doubt what the vampire would be capable of doing if someone stepped in his way of his plans that he waited so long to achieve. She felt Damon lightly brush her arm and then he was gone, stepping away from her towards the living room.

Elena wasn't sure what to do. It was obviously too late to back away, and she wouldn't anyway, but she didn't want Damon to hurt her family or anyone she cared about. She didn't want him to go after Stefan for deceiving him and she knew that doing this would only push Damon further into darkness. She sighed inwardly and served dinner for everyone.

After dinner, the doorbell rang and Damon immediately stood up, knowing it was his brother. Elena answered the door and saw Stefan with a weary look and Damon came and stood next to her. "Well?" he stated, expecting his brother to fess up to his findings about the journal.

Stefan explained that the Gilbert journal was given to Jeremy's history teacher, Alaric Saltzman, for an essay that Jeremy wrote and when Stefan went to go "talk" to the teacher, the journal had disappeared and it was now missing. Frustrated, Damon stalked over to Jeremy who was still playing video games and sat on the edge of the couch.

"So, I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day," Damon pressed. Elena looked over at Stefan in worry but he shrugged. "Who else did you show it to?"

"Huh?" Jeremy was engrossed in his video game.

"Don't ask questions, just spill."

Jeremy laughed, "you're kidding me, right?"

Elena glanced over Damon's shoulder. "Jer, did you tell anyone other than Mr. Saltzman about Jonathan Gilbert's journal?"

Her brother looked around questionably. "Why is everybody so obsessed with that thing?"

"Who else did you tell?" Elena breathed out impatiently.

"Hmm, just that girl, Anna."

"That hot weird one?" Damon chimed in. Elena raised her brows in question but didn't ask.

"Yeah."

"Wait, who's Anna?" Stefan questioned.

"That's what I want to find out," Damon responded. "How do you know her?" He directed his question back at Jeremy.

Elena's phone started ringing and she left to pick it up, leaving the boys to figure out the details of what's happening. When she answered, it was Bonnie, and Elena turned quickly into the best friend wanting details about her current date. Elena went upstairs to get some quiet while joking with Bonnie about seizing the day.

As soon as she hung up, Stefan walked into her room looking tense. "Where's Damon?"

"He left to track down Jeremy's friend, Anna, to see if there was anything there."

"Aren't you going to go with him?" Elena asked, panicked. "If he gets to the journal before we do, then-"

Stefan pulled out a bundle of rolled up papers, "doesn't matter," he interrupted with a victorious smile.

"What is that?"

"It's a copy of it." He unfolded some of the papers to show her.

"How'd you get it?"

"Well, Mr. Saltzman made a copy and he was… kind enough to loan it to me."

Elena looked skeptical, "he did?"

Stefan shrugged, "not exactly, but, got it."

Elena smiled. They were actually one step ahead of Damon and she had a feeling that Damon would be close behind so she proposed they got straight to looking through the documents.

After some time of looking through the journal copies, Elena spotted a reference to the item they were looking for and showed it to Stefan. He glanced quickly and read aloud through the papers and paused, glancing off into the distance thinking.

Elena could appreciate the younger Salvatore. She watched him and noticed the small details about him; from the light bronze highlights in his hair, to his light unfocused green eyes, and to how his black hoodie had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. If things started to lighten up, she might be interested in another chance with him, but for now, she still needs to keep her distance.

He snapped back to the present and looked at Elena. "I know where it is."

Stefan elaborated that his father was the type of person to literally bring things with him to the grave, to make sure no one would uncover secrets that he had died protecting. Stefan said that they would have to dig through his grave and pull the grimoire from inside the coffin. Elena felt uncomfortable with the idea, but agreed nonetheless and they left immediately.

Elena didn't need vampire senses to know that Katherine was following closely behind.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Oops, this is really long. D: and for some reason I just really enjoy writing kelena arguments :D**

* * *

Elena shone a flashlight at the gravestone to inspect the writing; in large, embossed letters 'Giuseppe Salvatore' was spelt out. "Why wasn't your father buried in your family's tomb?"

"It wasn't built until well after he died." Stefan moved past Elena and grabbed two shovels. They had set up standing torches surrounding the grave so that they could see without having to be constantly holding a flashlight.

With the combination of the moonlight and the fire, it looked eerie and Elena felt uncomfortable being here under these circumstances. The glow of the fire lightly illuminated their surroundings and cast flickering shadows against the ground that made it look like something was constantly moving. Elena's gaze lingered in the distance within the forest; she knew Katherine was somewhere here, far enough that Stefan wouldn't notice her presence but close enough to know what was going on. Elena felt oddly at ease knowing that she was somewhere out here because if something were to happen, she knew that the older vampire wouldn't let her die due to some plan that she might have with Elena at some point. Elena didn't like the idea of being used somehow, but right now she was willing to take advantage of the vampire's security, even if she didn't _like _the vampire lingering.

Stefan noticed Elena's far off gaze. "Elena," he called. The human turned her attention to the vampire. "I can do this on my own." He held two shovels and a look of worry was evident in his features at getting her do to this.

"And I said I would help."

"I know, and I appreciate that-"

"This town is my home, Stefan. My friends and family are here. I don't want that tomb opened any more than you do."

Stefan nodded and silently passed her a shovel. Stefan sighed and moved in front of the gravestone and stood in silence for a moment. This was his father's grave that he was digging up and it wasn't easy on him, as Elena could see. He was tense and his face was somber. "I'm sorry that you have to do this," Elena said gently. Stefan nodded again in silence and he dug his shovel in the ground and began digging.

After about an hour, the two had made a large hole and Elena climbed out to rest and left Stefan to continue since he didn't need to rest as often as her. Elena pulled out the flashlight and shone it down into the grave to allow some more light for Stefan. She thought about what life decisions had brought her to this moment of digging up the grave of a 163 year old vampire's father in the middle of the night for a witch's book. Elena let out a laugh.

Stefan glanced up at her, "what?"

"Not many girls can say they've done this," she laughed.

Stefan smiled gently up at her and continued digging until he heard the sound of metal on wood. He paused and looked up at Elena who shone the flashlight into the hole and saw wood underneath a layer of dirt. After Stefan dusted the dirt off, he pried open the coffin and inside was a skeleton, grasping tightly on an old dusty book. The book was quite large and looked to be much older than the grave.

Stefan carefully pulled the book out of his dead father's hands. "Is that it?" Elena asked. Stefan closed the coffin and stood up in the grave and softly placed the book on the edge of the hole to inspect it. He unwrapped a cover of old parchment and ripped it open to reveal the smooth book within. It had a plain cover, strong bindings, and it really didn't look like anything special.

"Well, whaddya know," a voice called from the distance in the forest within the darkness. Elena shot up and shone the flashlight in the direction of the voice and saw Damon. "This is an interesting turn of events," Damon stated, clearly pissed off. He looked betrayed, upset, annoyed, frustrated, and hurt.

Stefan hopped out of the grave quickly and stood between Damon and Elena. "I can't let you bring her back. I'm sorry," Stefan's voice held no remorse. He knew this would happen.

"So am I," Damon responded. "For thinking for even a second, that I could trust you." His voice held so much hurt and betray that Elena felt a whole new level of guilt.

Stefan, however, was not convinced. "You are not _capable_ of trust," he spat out. "The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself."

"Of course I was going to do it by myself because the only one I can count on is _me!" _He narrowed his eyes at Stefan. "You made sure of that many years ago, Stefan." Damon focused his gaze behind his brother at Elena and stepped forward, "but you," he stopped a few feet in front of his brother, "you had me fooled."

Elena felt terrible, she wanted to say something but nothing came out. She looked at the older Salvatore and saw the trust that he had in her, that he truly did trust her word and she betrayed him. She couldn't formulate any words and broke off eye contact, looking downward. She couldn't handle seeing the look in his eyes.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Damon asked. "Because if you try and destroy that, I will rip her heart out," he threatened. Elena felt a shiver go down her spine.

"You won't kill her," Stefan said, shaking his head.

Suddenly Elena was being grabbed from behind, a strong arm around her neck and the other holding her right arm in place. "I can do one better," Damon said hastily and brought his wrist up to his mouth and ripped open a wound in his arm and forced it to Elena's mouth, making her drink his blood. "Give me the book, Stefan. Or I'm snapping her neck, and you and I will have a vampire girlfriend."

* * *

_Shit, shit, shit, shit, what the fuck, shit. _Katherine was perched on a tree branch some ways away from the scene. She was leaning forward, gripping the branch so tightly she was surprised it didn't snap under her hand. _What the fuck is Damon thinking? I need her _human, Katherine thought. She was ready to speed down there, break both of their necks and take Elena out of there but she couldn't risk exposure.

"Let her go first," Katherine heard Stefan say. _Yes, let the human go, Damon. _

"The book," Damon replied.

"I'm not going to give this to you until she is standing next to me."

Katherine was furious. These two were supposed to _protect _her, not be the direct cause of her destruction. Now that she knew how stupid these two Salvatores were, she put it on her to-do list to keep this human, _human. _

"The problem is, I no longer trust that you'll give it _back_." Damon said angrily.

Damon had Elena held tightly against him, she couldn't move her head and she couldn't struggle out of his grip. Katherine had a Birdseye view of the situation and even though the figures were small, she could see every expression, and every movement, no matter how subtle. And the movement that she just noticed caused something to stir within her. Elena's eyes were darting frantically in the forest around her, searching, pleading, before always resting back on Stefan before he noticed, and then she'd repeat. Elena was looking for Katherine. Waiting for her to help her.

Katherine clenched her jaw tightly and tightened her grip on the branch, which came apart in her hand. Stefan's head darted upwards quickly at the sound but moved back to focus on what was happening in front him.

_Stupid little doppelganger, don't rely on me. _

"You just did the one thing that insures that I will," she heard Stefan say. She turned her attention back to the three. Stefan was moving cautiously forward with the book and Damon edged forward with Elena still held tightly to him. She had given up struggling against the vampire's grip. Stefan gently tossed the book down in front of his brother, and eyed him, waiting for him to let Elena go.

Katherine edged forward, she saw Damon look at Elena, debating for a moment whether to let her go or not. Damon eventually lightened his grip and let go of her completely, allowing her to move. He gently nudged her forward and Katherine could make out a look of slight regret on his face, as if doing that was the last thing he wished to do to the human. Elena moved like a frightened kitten, as if she wasn't sure whether or not if she rushed forward, Damon would grab her again. Elena eventually lunged forward and flew into Stefan's arms and he held her tightly to him, protecting her. Katherine's features relaxed and she let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding.

Stefan and Elena left hastily and Damon stood for a moment before picking up the grimoire from the ground. Katherine remembered Damon as the brother who loved too much, where she didn't love him enough. He was always the type to love with everything he had or not at all and Katherine never did like that. But tonight, if something had happened to Elena and she either died or got turned, Katherine would have lost her ability to finally be free and never have to live a life of running and it would have been her own fault. Damon's desperation for her had almost caused her to lose her chance.

* * *

Elena stood alone in her room, mindlessly checking her phone while Stefan went to grab her some Advil. The vampire blood Damon forced down her throat had given her a headache, but at the same time, it made her feel more energetic and less unstable from the recent events. She had convinced Stefan that she was fine but he insisted on staying for a while to make sure she was all right.

She sighed and placed her phone on her dresser and began to shrug out of her jacket. "What the _fuck _was that?" a voice came from behind her.

Elena turned, startled by the voice and jerked her arms unintentionally and her black jacket tore at the shoulder blades. Annoyed, Elena threw her jacket on the floor and shot Katherine an irritated look. Elena placed a finger to her lips, and then to her ear, then pointed to the floor while mouthing _Stefan. _

Katherine sighed silently, and pushed the girl into the bathroom, closed the door, locked it, and turned on the shower. Elena pulled herself away from Katherine and turned on her, "you're an idiot for coming here right now with Stefan here." Elena was frustrated for multiple reasons: one, Katherine was stupid and burst in her house without knowledge of who was around; two, Stefan wouldn't stop babying her; and three, because Katherine never showed up to help her when she needed it.

Katherine growled, "Damon got the book."

"Oh really?" Elena said sarcastically. "I guess I didn't notice between having blood forcibly shoved down my throat and almost having my head snapped. But you would know that, wouldn't you? Because you were there, you were watching it happen and did nothing."

"Of course not," Katherine spat back. "I wouldn't risk exposure for your sake." Elena felt like she was slapped. She didn't know why, she didn't expect anything from the vampire and nothing she did had proved otherwise; but somewhere deep down Elena thought that maybe the vampire would show some care. Katherine noticed the change in Elena's features and raised an eyebrow as a smirk crept across her face. "You thought I would, didn't you? You think I care," Katherine said in a mocking tone, her smirk widening.

Elena felt stupid for thinking the vampire would ever be selfless. "And if I was turned? There goes your perfect little plan," Elena responded dodging.

Katherine raised her hand, "you don't think I have a plan B?" she flicked up her index finger, "and if that doesn't work, a plan C?" another finger, "and a plan D" another finger, "well, you know how the alphabet works." She cocked her head as her hand fell to her side, a smile tugging at her lips, eyes narrowing "and if you were turned, then I get the pleasure of killing you myself."

Elena threw up her hands, exasperated, "what's with you?" Elena was tired of Katherine's forever altering attitude towards her. One day, they'll be at a bar, drinking and relaxing, and the next day they'll be at each other's throats. "This hot and cold attitude you have going on is exhausting. Either stay around and help me when I actually need help, or stop hanging around and leave me alone."

The vampire stiffened unconsciously and Elena saw many emotions flicker in her eyes. Anger. Annoyance. Disbelief. Frustration. Amusement. Admiration. Admiration? And… lust? Elena froze.

Katherine stepped slowly forward towards Elena until they were inches apart. Katherine stood slightly taller because of her heels. Elena swallowed anxiously while staring into the similar chocolate eyes; her mind was a blur as Katherine inched ever so slowly forward, dipping slightly, closer to Elena. Her breath caught at their proximity and her body wanted to react but she didn't know if she wanted to run, push her away, or grab her and- she didn't let that thought finish.

The vampire edged closer, Elena didn't move, she stood frozen and her eyes stayed locked with the vampire's. Katherine then moved passed her to reach below and turned the shower off, her head dipped and Elena felt her hair fall and graze her arm. She felt Katherine's leather jacket brush against her right shoulder as the vampire moved to stand upright again. Katherine paused and moved her lips close to Elena's ear. "It is not your place to command me, little human," she whispered threateningly.

When Elena met the vampire's gaze again, all signs of the previous emotions were gone, hidden behind a wall and masked with a hardened, expressionless face. Katherine turned towards the door, unlocked it and quickly left out the window she came in from just as Stefan walked into her room with a bottle of Advil, a large glass of water and a smile on his face.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Oops, this is long, sorry _not sorry (a little__ sorry). T_he dreams will make sense eventually._ Thank you to everyone who reviewed and followed and such! If I knew how to directly respond to reviews, I would. 3 I appreciate 'em all! Thank you! :']_**

* * *

_Four walls surrounded her; at least she thought there were four walls. The darkness enveloped everything and not a shred of light cut through the blackness. This wasn't simply an absence of light; this was pure darkness, where light could never pierce. Her eyes were unable to adjust because there simply was nothing to adjust to. The air was thick and hot within the confines. _

_She outstretched her arms and was able to touch the walls to her left and right without moving, meaning wherever she was, it was very narrow. The walls felt moist and grainy. She slowly turned in a circle, feeling the walls, feeling the corners, until she was perpendicular to her previous placement and felt the walls again. Her right hand was firmly placed against a solid wall, but it felt like wood instead of the previous grainy feeling to the walls before. _A door? _She thought. However, her left hand felt nothing, there was no wall on the other side. _

_She gazed down the endless darkness, unable to see anything. She took a step towards the darkness and a cold air cut through her before she stepped backward against the wooden solid. She turned to face the wood and felt around to find some sort of doorknob or opening. Eventually, her fingers touched a cold metal sphere and she grasped it tightly, attempting to turn it, but it was locked. She pushed and pulled but to no avail. She hit the door with her palm, with caution at first and then more forceful. "Hello? Is anybody out there?" she said, as her heart began to race. Her voice echoed down the narrow corridor behind her, and then silence. She sighed. _

_A noise caught her attention, but it wasn't coming from the other side of the door, instead it came from behind her. She turned sharply towards the darkness behind her and saw nothing, but the noise occurred once again; it was as if a nail was scratching the walls. Panicking, she turned around once again and slammed against the door with her fist, "hello? Can anyone hear me? Please!" The noise behind her was getting closer and louder, "Someone! Please, open the door!" she yelled, slamming her fists harder and harder against the wood, until she began to thrust her body at the door, shoulder first, to try and break the door down. _

"_Petrova," a voice drawled from behind, like a hiss, echoing off of the walls and sending a shiver down the girl's spine. The voice was neither male nor female, but was simply there. _

_The girl pounded more fiercely against the wood as the sound of the nails scratching was coming closer, "someone help me! Please!" her fist was bloodied as she kept slamming against the wood. She turned around and saw approaching crimson eyes, the only thing that pierced through the darkness. She faced the door again, and yelled even louder, pounding her fist even more roughly, kicking and pushing at the door. _

_She felt a painful sting in her thigh and a body behind her, "Elena," the voice said in the same, echoic, empty tone and felt icy breath against her neck. She froze, before a pull from her thigh caused her to fall and she felt herself being dragged into the darkness. _

"_Let me go! Someone, please help me! Please!" she pleaded as she tried to find traction on the cold ground, scratching at the ground with her nails, kicking furiously, and screaming until her voice was raw, being dragged into the dark depths, until all went silent except for a lingering phrase. _

"_You were born to die." _

Elena woke with a start, bolting upright. She realized three things when she woke: the first, it was just another dream but her heart pounded audibly in her chest and her breath had quickened as sweat beaded on her forehead. The second, she wasn't in her room; in fact, she wasn't in her house. She was sitting on a firm, uncomfortable bed, with a red comforter, and hard pillows. The third was that there was someone sleeping in a chair in front of her.

Elena scurried backwards until her back was against a headboard. She studied her surroundings and saw two doors, one to the right, probably leading a washroom and one to her left, passed the sleeping man in the chair which inevitably lead outside. A large window was to her left as well, but covered in curtains. It didn't take a lot to figure out she was in a motel. She turned her attention back to the sleeping figure, and tried to quietly remove herself from the bed. She stepped quietly away from the bed and moved around the man in the chair.

She never removed her eyes from the man until she reached the door, taking silent breaths. She removed the chain from the door as quietly as she possibly could and unlocked the door, her hand placed on the knob ready to turn it.

"I wouldn't," a voice came from behind her. She jumped, startled at the appearance of the man behind her and because of her dream, she was very skittish. The man stepped closer to Elena, causing her to press her back against the door. The man focused on her eyes, and she knew immediately that he was about to try and compel her without knowing she was wearing vervain. "Don't try to escape, don't even move," he said in a smooth voice. "Do you understand?"

Elena played along, "I understand." The man seemed to have bought it, because he smirked and moved away from her, grabbing a bottle of alcohol.

Elena used this chance to turn around and open the door to escape but another person rushed in and pushed her inside, shutting the door firmly behind them. The girl had gripped Elena tightly; "seriously?" she spat out.

"I told her not to move. I did that eye thing you taught me!" the guy answered back defensively.

The girl pushed Elena further into the room. "Forgot the lesson about vervain. She dates a vampire, Ben. Duh." She answered, clearly irritated.

The girl pushed Elena against the other door. "Who are you? What do you want?" Elena asked, trying to push off the assailant. She was short, and had brown, curly hair that reminded her of Katherine.

"It doesn't matter," the girl replied, exasperated. She opened the door behind Elena and pushed her inside, closed the door and locked it from the outside.

Elena fell against the wall in the dimly lit washroom and shot back to the door and tried to open it but failed. _What motel has locks on the outside of the washrooms? _She sighed and turned on the rest of the lights in annoyance before glancing at the bathtub and noticing another person in the tub. "Bonnie?" She rushed over to the bathtub to her unconscious best friend.

She held her friend's face in her hands, trying to get her to wake up, when she heard a door slam open in the opposite room. "What the hell?" the guy yelled loudly. Elena carefully relaxed Bonnie's head against the tub and walked over to place an ear to the door.

"Let me go, you bitch," the guy choked out. It sounded as if someone had him in a hold, or clenching his throat.

"You see, I'd love to, but I seem to have misplaced something that belongs to me." Elena immediately recognized Katherine's voice. "My height, we look startlingly similar, asks a lot of questions, kind of obnoxious, has a questionable fashion sense," Katherine listed off. Elena glanced down at her outfit and scowled at the door.

"I can hear you, you know," Elena shot out through the door.

"Ah, there she is," Katherine responded. Elena could hear the smirk in her voice and she rolled her eyes in response. Elena heard a loud crash and the sound of fabric ripping before the door she was leaning against swung open, causing her to fall face first to the ground. "How graceful," Katherine commented, sarcastically.

Elena glanced up and saw Katherine standing over her, a smirk on her face and an eyebrow cocked. She glanced around the room at the scene before her and saw the curtains ripped from their rails with sunlight beaming into the room and the guy, Elena heard the Anna girl call him Ben, was cowering in a dark corner while Anna was pushing herself up from the ground.

Elena sighed and picked herself up from the ground. "I'm still mad at you," Elena said bitterly; she didn't know why she said it, it mostly just slipped out.

"Ouch, my poor undead heart. Whatever will I do without your forgiveness," the vampire responded with mockery and a smirk. Elena wanted to laugh, she tried not to laugh, but a small smile appeared on her face and Katherine narrowed her eyes at her. The memory of Katherine's hot breath against Elena's neck, and the light graze of her brown curls against her skin came rushing back to her mind unexpectedly. Elena's face felt hot and reddened with a blush as she turned away from the vampire who was regarding her with curiousity.

After Katherine had left last night, Elena had trouble concentrating on Stefan's company. Eventually, Elena persuaded him to leave and that she would be fine without him around for the night, which obviously didn't turn out as planned since she woke up here instead of home. Once Stefan had left, Elena sat up through a good portion of the night simply thinking about Katherine. Whether it was her actions, reasoning, her persisting presence, or their relationship with one another.

Even though she knew that Katherine was up to something and planning something, she has also noticed a slight alteration in the way Katherine was around her; a little more aggressive but contained at the same time. Elena is able to see through her threats a lot easier because they simply don't hold their own anymore, as if Katherine is just half-heartedly threatening her and hoping it'll work. Elena would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that her attitude towards the vampire hadn't changed too; she has become more relaxed around her, and dare she say, she slightly enjoyed having the vampire around, despite their arguments.

"Katherine, please," Anna's voice came from behind Katherine, interrupting her thoughts. "They won't cooperate if we don't have her."

Katherine turned to face Anna. "And this is my problem, why?"

"I need to get my mom out, please. She was your friend, too. Let me get her out." Elena furrowed her brows, _Katherine has friends? _She laughed at her own thought and the two vampires turned to stare at her and she quickly silenced herself. She was feeling awfully giddy considering her situation. "Why are you here anyway? Because of her?" Anna nodded in Elena's direction. "What do you have planned?"

Katherine turned and glanced at Elena and she noticed a conflicted look in her eyes for a split second, it disappeared so quickly that Elena thought she imagined it. Katherine was about to respond when Elena answered, "the better question is what are you doing with my brother?"

Anna was silent, as if she didn't know how to answer that question. Elena narrowed her eyes at her. A sound from behind caused her to turn and she saw that Bonnie was shifting in her unconsciousness. She ran over to Bonnie and touched her forehead, "Bonnie?"

The witch opened her eyes, "Elena?"

Elena sighed in relief, "you're okay."

Bonnie tried to sit up and winced, "ah, my head," she said weakly. A look of realization came across her face as she panicked, "oh my god, Ben is a vampire!" she yelled out.

"Ah, yeah, that's uh-" Elena glanced behind her through the open bathroom door at Katherine and Anna and back to her friend, "that's being dealt with."

Bonnie sat up completely and tried to glance out the door to see what was happening but Elena blocked her view. She knew she couldn't let her see Katherine and Katherine should be aware by now that the witch had woken. On queue, there was a loud crashing noise and then silence. Elena peeked out the door and saw that the vampires had gone. Even Ben had disappeared.

"What happened?" Bonnie asked, drawing Elena's attention back.

Elena shrugged, "just some vampire business, I guess. C'mon, let's get out of here before any of them return." Elena helped her friend up and had her weight against her as they rushed out of the completely ruined motel room.

* * *

After Katherine had made sure to get Anna and Ben away from Elena long enough for her to get out of there with the witch before she saw Katherine and questioned why there Elena had a twin sister and never mentioned anything, she went back to her doppelgangers house to make sure she didn't die on the way.

She stood outside of Elena's window and listened to Elena on the phone with Stefan, assuring him that she was all right and that he had no reason to come over.

Katherine has been growing an awful protectiveness over Elena recently and she hated herself for it. She wasn't aware of where it was coming from and why, but it lingered and it grew more and more. Not only that, but Katherine had grown a connection with her deeper than her simply being a lamb to the slaughter. She couldn't help herself be in the near vicinity of her doppelganger; she just preferred it that way. She wouldn't necessarily say she "enjoyed" her presence, if anything, her company caused the vampire to be more agitated and irritated than usual.

The vampire sighed and jumped up on the windowsill when she heard Elena hang up on Stefan. Even though Katherine used to love Stefan, or still did, she didn't really know who her own feelings, she knew how invasive he could be and didn't want to spark any reaction out of Elena by randomly appearing while she was on the phone to cause him to come rushing over.

She paused for a moment, debating whether or not to just let herself into her room, but decided to tap lightly on the glass instead. She was far too tired and in no mood to stir anything up. Elena glanced over at the window and Katherine could see the questioning in her eyes. Elena slid the window up and before she could answer, Katherine commented, "you're not a vampire, are you?"

Elena cocked an eyebrow and Katherine hopped into her room, pushing past her doppelganger. "No, why would I be a vampire?"

"Well, last time I checked, you had vampire blood in your system." Katherine sat down on Elena's bed and shrugged casually. "Just making sure you didn't die in the last 13 hours or so since I last saw you."

"Ah, no. Still human," Elena answered with the slightest amount of enthusiasm, laced with frustration."

The two stared at each other in an increasingly uncomfortable silence; Elena shifted awkwardly and crossed her arms over her chest and changed her weight back forth on her legs while looking around the room. Katherine simply regarded Elena with a blank expression, not really focusing on her at all.

Elena constantly shifted her gaze to the vampire before avoiding eye contact, then looking back again until she finally spoke, "thanks, by the way." Katherine refocused on the human and raised a brow. "You know, for saving me, or whatever," Elena said awkwardly.

It was the first time the two had been together where one wasn't yelling or threatening at the other. Not since their road trip, anyway.

Katherine raised a hand in a dismissive wave.

Silence fell between the two once more. Katherine wasn't really sure why she had come here in the first place; she had no reason to be around Elena. "I'm not yours, you know," Elena stated.

Katherine shot her eyes at her doppelganger in question, "what?"

Elena shifted again, "back at the motel, you said 'something that belongs to me'," Elena pointed out, "and I don't. Belong to you, I mean. And I'm not a 'thing'."

The vampire recalled saying that, but shrugged, "dramatic effect," she replied. In a way, she did think that the human belonged to her. She was her double; they were both a double of another. They are fated to live the same life, the same difficulties, and they were one another's in the fight that Elena wasn't aware of yet.

"You have a flare for the dramatic," Elena said, an amused smile appeared. When Katherine ignored her, her smile fell. "What are you doing here anyway?" Elena sighed out.

Katherine wished she knew. She stood from Elena's bed and stretched out dramatically and gave her her trademark smirk and arrogant attitude, "just making sure you're still of use to me."

Katherine strutted towards the window again, silently chastising herself for coming here in the first place.

"Wait." She heard Elena say at the same time as a hand grasped her leather jacket's sleeve. The vampire turned around with surprise and confusion and saw the same look on the doppelgangers. She imagined they looked like mirror images right now. "I, uh-," Elena stammered. Katherine looked at her hand, which was grasping her arm, and Elena dropped her hand. "Sorry, I-," Katherine watched as she had an internal struggle and conflict and could have laughed if she were in the mood. "Stay," Elena finally said. That wasn't what Katherine had expected to come out of her mouth ever. She was taken aback by her comment and stood in silence. Elena glanced around uncomfortably, "if you want."

"Why?" Katherine said, sounding confused and blank.

The human looked even more uncomfortable as she tried to find the right words. "I just- I don't know. You know, I just thought, I uh-" Elena mumbled and stumbled over her own words. "Nothing, never mind, I have no real reason, I just- never mind, it was stupid anyway." Elena laughed silently and awkwardly to herself.

Katherine searched her eyes and Elena avidly avoided her gaze. Silence overcame them once more before Katherine took a step backwards towards the window. "Goodnight, Elena," she said before disappearing through the window.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I was debating about cutting this into two parts but I decided nah. :] **

* * *

Elena awoke from a fairly peaceful and nightmare free sleep despite recent events. She cursed herself all night for attempting to get Katherine to stay, and she wasn't even sure as to why she wished for the vampire to stay. There was a distant look in Katherine's eyes when she stopped by the previous night after she had gotten home, a look of exhaustion and even slight loneliness. Whatever happened with Anna had drained her. There was also the whole knocking on the window for entry thing when the vampire would usually just barge in unexpectedly and start bickering or mocking the human for stupid things. Elena felt like putting the offer on the table even though she knew it would be rejected. What would she have done if she did stay anyway?

Elena heard some voices downstairs and decided to get dressed and check out what was happening.

"What are you doing here?" Elena heard Aunt Jenna ask as she descended the stairs.

"Am I not allowed to visit my family?" A familiar voice followed. Elena reached the bottom of the stairs and walked towards the kitchen. "Ah, hello there, Elena. It's nice to see you again."

Elena sighed heavily when she found the voice belonged to her Uncle John. "John, what're you doing here?"

He was wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans, his hair cut short, and he had a blue ring on his hand that he was fiddling with. "Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'm here to see my family."

"Uncle John, hey," Jeremy chimed in as he entered the kitchen. The two started talking about school and were catching up.

The doorbell interrupted the small chat between Jeremy and John. Elena walked over to go answer it and saw Stefan in the doorway. "Stefan? What's up?" Elena asked, thankful for a possible reason to leave without paying too much attention to the return of John.

Unfortunately, John walked up behind Elena and peered around the door to see who it was. "And who is this?" he asked with curiousity and hostility.

Stefan stood there for a moment looking between Elena and John before extended a hand, "hello, I'm Stefan Salvatore. A friend of Elena's," he said with his usual polite smile.

John regarded him for a moment before shaking his hand back with more force than necessary. "John, Elena's uncle."

Stefan smiled tightly before returning his gaze back to Elena. "Can we talk?"

"Yes," Elena said with more enthusiasm than she probably should have used. She reached over to the small side table next to the door and grabbed her purse. "I'll be back later," she called over her shoulder at Jenna and shot a gaze at John who gave a small smile, which she didn't return.

Once the two were in Stefan's car, he spoke. "So, John seems… Nice."

Elena groaned, "He's not a family favourite." She sighed. "I'd rather not talk about John, although I am curious as to why he's here."

Stefan shrugged, "that's the least of our problems right now."

Elena looked over at him worriedly. "What's happening?"

She noticed his jaw set and his lips form a thin line. "We have to let Damon open the tomb. We already convinced Bonnie to help us."

If there weren't a seatbelt holding her in place, she would have gone flying through the windshield with the force she bolted upright. "What do you mean we have to 'let him open the tomb'? What was the point in trying to steer him away from it if that's what was happening anyway?" Elena needed to find Katherine, she had to tell her what was happening but she had no way of contacting her. She made a mental note to find another way to get a hold of her.

"Between Damon and Anna, this would be the safest way to do it. If we refuse, we don't know what either of them are willing to do. They could target the people of Mystic Falls," Stefan said grimly.

"But we can't," Elena whined.

Stefan glanced over at her briefly with a questionable look before looking back to the road. "We don't have any other choice. It's better if we're there anyway so we can make sure nothing goes wrong when he goes in for Katherine."

Elena didn't have a choice in the matter. They were already on their way to the boarding house.

When the two arrived, Damon was pacing back and forth with the grimoire in his left hand and a glass of bourbon in the other. "Finally," he said when he spotted them, "I had thought you two had skipped off into the sunset. Let's go, we have a tomb to open," he said with annoyance and a mock smile.

He put down his glass on the nearby table and walked out towards the door, Stefan already out the door and moving back to his car, when Elena grabbed Damon's arm. "Damon, wait," she said reluctantly.

"Is this the part where you apologize for stabbing me in the back and wish we were back to the good ol' times of me coming over for dinners with the Gilbert family?" He said when he spun around to face her with a sigh.

Elena released her grip slightly to gently touch his arm. "Damon, I really am sorry for what I did, but I was looking out for my family and for my friends," before he responded, she continued. "But I also understand that you're doing this because you truly do love Katherine and you're willing to do anything for her. You've spent all this time waiting for the opportunity and I'm going to help you. I want to help you." It wasn't a lie, Elena did want Damon to be happy and to get back what he lost; however, she just left out the part where the girl he was madly in love with just wasn't where he thought she was.

Damon's icy gaze softened slightly, a look of conflict passed through his features as if he wasn't sure if he could trust her. He reached out a hand towards her neck and she almost flinched away until she realized he was lightly brushing away a stray hair. "I wish I knew if I could trust you."

Elena reached out and touched his hand, "you can," she said simply.

The eldest Salvatore stood there for a moment, regarding her cautiously with his blue eyes, before he dropped his hand and headed for the door. "Bonnie is meeting us there," he said, back to his usual attitude.

A sigh escaped Elena's lips as she managed to get through another evasive truth telling. Now it was both brothers that she had to lie to and keep up this façade, but she had been doing it since the beginning anyway, that it seemed normal. It seemed normal to lie for the older vampire, her look alike. It seemed _right _to lie for her. She knew she was still compelled not to mention anything, but the compulsion had nothing to do with her want or lack thereof to tell anyone; and right now, she didn't want to tell anyone and the compulsion is now a backup to avoid any slipups.

When the two Salvatores and Elena arrived at the tomb, beneath the ruins of a church that definitely did not last against time, she saw Bonnie and her Grams within a circle of torches and the grimoire that Damon handed to her. "Bonnie!" Elena called out. Bonnie turned to look at her best friend and went to hug her. "Are you sure about doing this?" she asked when they pulled apart.

"It's for the best," she replied with a small smile.

Elena smiled back and turned to Bonnie's grandmother. "I'm sorry to put you two in the middle of this."

Bonnie's grandmother smiled back, "sometimes the middle is exactly where we need to be."

"You two ready for your witchy voodoo magic?" Damon interrupted.

Bonnie's grandmother responded, "You'd be wise not to insult Bennett witches, vampire."

Damon responded with a tight smile and turned back to the tomb door that was engraved with a symbol. He was holding a blood bag for Katherine and a small smile appeared on the corner of his lips and Elena felt horrible already.

The two witches took their places in the middle of the circle of torches and began a chant in a language that Elena couldn't understand. She leaned over and asked Stefan but he didn't know either. After about a minute, they heard a large crack and a click, and saw the large tomb door move over, sliding out of place to reveal a dark passage.

"Is that it? Is the spell lifted?" Damon asked, enthusiastic.

The witches looked exhausted, "you may now enter," replied Bonnie's grandmother.

Damon grinned excitedly and ran into the tomb. Elena couldn't help but smile at his excitement, but as soon as she remembered that it would be for nothing, her smile faded. After a moment, the group heard a noise from behind them and they saw Anna coming down the rickety stairs into the hole. Stefan moved in front of Elena protectively and the witches perked up, ready to defend any attack that may happen. "Please, I'm just here for my mother," Anna pleaded.

When Stefan began to relax and no one made a move against her, Anna moved around the group and entered the tomb wearily.

"Are we really going to let her get her mom out?" Elena asked.

"Don't you worry, child. She won't be coming back out," Bonnie's grandmother answered.

"Wait," Stefan responded, turning his attention to the witches, "what do you mean?" He furrowed his brows.

"We couldn't release the spell, only open the door," Bonnie answered.

"Bonnie, what do you mean?" Elena asked.

"I'm sorry, Elena. No vampire can leave the tomb."

Stefan looked at the witched with disbelief and into the tomb at where his brother had just run into. Without thinking, he sped into the tomb to find his brother. "Stefan, wait!" Elena called after him and ran into the tomb after the Salvatore. She heard voices from behind call out to her but the voices were lost within the tomb.

It was completely dark within the tomb. Nowhere in this area did light penetrate. Elena fumbled for her phone and turned it on full brightness to light the path ahead of her. The walls were moist and the ground was left undisturbed for years, spider webs occupied the corners of the walls and the path she was on began to widen into a large clearing area that had what looked like a small fenced area with a bench.

"Stefan?" She called out and her voice echoed back to her. "Damon?" Elena stammered aimlessly into the darkness as neither of the brothers answered her. She felt the ground become bumpy and stumbled over a rock, causing her to fall down on her knees and drop her phone. She searched frantically for her makeshift flashlight and when she found it, she immediately grabbed it and pointed at her surroundings. In front of her face was what looked like a corpse that had its eyes wide open, staring directly at her. Elena screamed and scrambled up quickly, noticing the corpse following her with its eyes.

"Elena, are you okay?" She felt a hand at her arm, carefully guiding her away from the very alive corpse.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she stood up straight and leaned against the vampire.

Stefan glanced down, "it's what happens when vampires don't feed for long periods of time. They desiccate. It's a slow and painful process but after a few years, they just become numb to it."

"Sounds horrible," she said with a sigh. "Where's Damon?" She asked, turning her attention back towards Stefan.

Stefan furrowed brows, "he's still trying to find Katherine."

"Well, he's not going to," she mumbled under her breath.

Stefan stiffened next to her, "what do you mean?"

Elena paused and mentally scowled at herself for slipping up. She forgot that Stefan could hear her whispers as easily as if she were shouting it from a mountain. She mulled in her mind for something to come up with, to deter away from this, when the two heard a loud shout from the end of the tomb, in the back.

Stefan looked at her for a moment before running down the tomb after the shout. Elena sighed in relief and raced after him.

The two were faced with a very angry Damon. "She's not here!" he shouted, throwing a blood bag against the wall. Elena winced away as she saw the bag explode from the force and blood splattered everywhere.

"Damon," Stefan said softly, trying to calm his brother. He placed a hand on his shoulder and he violently shrugged it off.

"She's not _here_, Stefan." His blue eyes were flaring with anger and slowly being overtaken with sadness and hopelessness. It was heart breaking to watch him fall apart after being so certain that she was here.

Elena stood back, not wanting to get in the way. Guilt overtook her as she watched the Salvatore brother lose his composure. She knew from the beginning Katherine wasn't going to be in this tomb. She knew that Katherine was in the same city as the brothers and was purposely avoiding them. She knew that Katherine didn't care about either brother.

Damon turned abruptly to Elena and she took an involuntary step backwards at his intense gaze. "Why is your heart rate picking up, Elena?"

She didn't even notice the change. "What?"

Stefan turned to her, his green eyes eyeing her suspiciously. "She said earlier that you weren't going to find Katherine in here," he stated, throwing her under the bus.

"Well, are you two surprised that she isn't? I mean, after everything you told me about her, is it surprising that she tricked you two?" Elena tried to get out of the corner she accidentally put herself in. "She manipulated you."

Damon took a predatory step forward, anger rising within him again. "You're lying, Elena. I can hear it."

"What? No, I'm not-"

"Do you know where she is?" Stefan asked, interrupting.

"No, how would I know-"

"_You're lying!_"Damon hollered. He bolted at her, grabbing at her neck and throwing her up against the opposite wall, his icy blue eyes piercing through her. "_Where is she?!" _

"Damon let her go!" Stefan yelled from behind, trying to pull him off of Elena.

Damon threw his brother across the small area against the far wall and turned his attention back to Elena. "Where is she? How did you know she wasn't here?"

"I-I don't-" she tried to answer but the compulsion Katherine originally put her under started to kick back up and the tightness of Damon's grip made it difficult to formulate any words. "I- she-" she kept opening and closing her mouth, unable to answer around the compulsion. She tried to claw at his hand to pull him off of her, but he was too strong for her.

Damon's force tightened around her throat, "_Where is she?" _

"Damon stop!" Stefan yelled and came back around. "She's been compelled, she can't answer you! Let go!"

Damon turned his eyes back to Elena's, which were tearing up from pain and guilt. His gaze was filled with so much fury that she thought he would kill her, legitimately choke her until she suffocated. "I trusted you _twice_ and you lied to me _both times_," Damon stated, his voice shaking with anger and pain. He stared for a long moment before releasing her carelessly.

Stefan pushed Damon back and placed his hands on Elena's shoulders, steadying her. "Are you alright?"

Elena nodded weakly in reply. She stood against the wall and turned to Damon. "I'm sorry, Damon," she choked out, tears welling in her eyes.

"She's been here the whole time, hasn't she?" he asked, mostly to himself. His shoulders went slack and his face dropped. To Elena, he looked completely broken and defeated. The anger within him has been replaced by sadness and he was heartbroken.

"Has she directly approached you?" Stefan asked Elena. Elena opened her mouth and closed it, unable to answer.

Stefan sighed. "There's always a loophole," Damon said, turning to face the two. A look of determination crossed his features as he thought about the ability to find out more information about Katherine, no matter the cost.

Stefan glanced at his brother with worry but turned his attention back to Elena. "That's true. Uhm," he began, thinking. "How long as she been here?"

"I-" Elena started but couldn't bring up the words.

Stefan sighed again, and glanced over his shoulder to his brother. "We should get out of here." Before he finished his statement, Damon had already begun walking back to the entrance of the tomb. Elena knew that Bonnie and her grandmother would have come up with a way to break the seal on the tomb so that the two could escape, but she was concerned about Damon and she was worried about his new anger and intense emotion; he was too impulsive.

She knew that the brothers would take her to the boarding house to drill her with questions until she was able to answer and she desperately wished she knew how to contact Katherine.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Huzzuh, shorter chapter! **

* * *

"_You will not tell anyone of our conversations, past, present or future, until I say so."_

This was the original compulsion that Katherine had put on Elena. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't tell Stefan and Damon about their meetings or anything that they've talked about. Then she remembered an overlaying compulsion from when they originally met: _"don't tell anyone you met me, I don't want anyone to know I'm alive and kicking," _which was also still in effect.

"Do you know why you were compelled?" Stefan persisted.

As soon as they returned from the tomb, Stefan and Damon forced her into the living room and sat her down and immediately began shooting off questions about Katherine and her whereabouts and why and where and how and it was getting on Elena's nerves. She screwed up and gave away that Katherine wasn't in the tomb and that gave them the idea that she knew where she was.

In all honesty, she didn't know where Katherine was. She couldn't tell them where the vampire stays when she's not around or what she does without her present. She wasn't lying with every answer and the compulsion did actually block a lot of things from being said, but whenever they asked about if she were around, she would stay quiet and maybe sputter out an "I don't know", because despite everything, she wasn't going to give up her location even if she could.

"Forget it, Stefan. Either the compulsion is very complex and specific, or Elena isn't giving up the information." Damon had been sitting on the couch, sipping on bourbon and staring into the fire since they got back. He hadn't spoken since he left the tomb and he didn't look at Elena. She knew that he was not only hurt by Katherine but also by Elena for lying to him on multiple occasions and stringing him along to believe that Katherine was in the tomb.

Stefan sighed. His elbows were leaning against his knees as he leaned forward on the couch to direct his attention to Elena. He sat upright and looked over at Damon with concern. He perked his head as if an idea came across his mind, "Elena, was the compulsion definite?"

Elena exhaustedly replied. "What do you mean?"

"Is the compulsion active for all time, or until someone says otherwise?"

Elena did actually want to answer this, it wouldn't give anything away and it was a simple answer. _You will not tell anyone of our conversations. _Elena sighed; the specifications of the compulsion itself were part of their "conversations". The compulsion wasn't that complex but it was a paradox within itself. She couldn't tell anyone of anything said, including the compulsion itself, meaning that she couldn't tell Stefan or Damon about the compulsion to find a way out of it. Stefan noticed this and nodded, as if he were sure it was until someone said otherwise.

"Do you think you could get the compulsion reversed?" he asked, a new flare of hope in his eyes.

Elena cocked a brow, "I've been ingesting vervain."

Stefan's jaw set, "you've been ingesting vervain for quite some time, are you saying that this goes longer than that?" Elena didn't respond, she simply stared back at Stefan. He sighed before responding, "stop drinking vervain, and just rely on your necklace for now. See if you can get the compulsion reversed." Damon threw his glass into the fireplace and left abruptly out the door. Stefan bit his lip but turned to Elena and shook his head.

Elena let out an exasperated breath_. Would Katherine reverse the compulsion? Probably not._

* * *

Katherine paced back and forth in the large house she had "borrowed" as she thought about everything that has happened. She saw from a distance how they had gotten into the tomb and how Damon had stormed out and Stefan was taking Elena out. She overheard that Stefan and Damon knew that Elena had been compelled and knew vaguely about Katherine's whereabouts. She thought back to the specifications of the compulsions she had put into effect on Elena and wondered if it would be enough.

It wasn't time for her to return to Mystic Falls with a grand entrance yet and she needed to stay under the radar while Damon and Stefan were to inevitably come looking for her around town. She could only imagine how the Salvatore brothers were probably drilling Elena with questions and interrogating her until they get something worthwhile out of her.

Katherine sipped on her glass that had whiskey mixed with blood. She thought back to her encounter with Elena in her house. Her standoff with Anna had drained her; after she had taken Anna out of the motel and away from Elena and the witch, she had tried to get her to leave town but she refused, saying how she needed her mother and she wanted her family reunited. That had gotten Katherine to think about her family and how she lost them because she was trying to save herself. By saving herself, she lost the ones she loved most and she had never even thought about becoming close to another person since. Letting people in and having them be taken away from her was a fear and a weakness. She had to stay on top of her emotions and her intentions.

When she arrived at Elena's house, her family was on her mind and her knowledge of Elena being her descendent had made her blindly approach her and show the slightest weakness. Elena wasn't family though, she was aware of this. She told Elena from the beginning that they are no more blood related as Elena and anyone else in this city. She couldn't let the doppelganger bury herself into her life. She couldn't care about another person to only be the cause of their demise, and Elena's death was the only thing to help her attain her freedom. She can't lose another person she cares about; she can't let that happen again. She has to save herself over her doppelganger. She has to live and Elena has to die. She can't care about her doppelganger.

Katherine placed the glass on the marble counter in the kitchen and gripped the counter with both hands. She has to avoid Elena and commence with the plan, if she saw her, she'd feel the familiar need to protect her instead of hand her over. She has to give the doppelganger to Klaus in exchange for her freedom and her life; her life is a priority over Elena's. Katherine has to think of herself over anyone else, including the human that has weaseled her way through her strongly built walls. _How did this even happen? _She groaned in frustration and pushed herself from the counter and out the door. She needed to feed on warm blood from the vein.

* * *

When Stefan had finally stopped questioning Elena and sent her home, she avoided her family and walked quietly up to her room. She knew that Stefan would be watching her closely to see if anyone comes or goes that doesn't belong. Elena also knew that Katherine most likely watched them enter and leave the tomb, meaning she would probably end up showing soon.

Elena paced impatiently in her room, waiting for the vampire to show up. _This is ridiculous, why am I waiting for her? _She thought to herself and stopped pacing. She got changed into her PJs and sat down on the edge of her bed. _She usually shows up after something like this happens. _Elena knew that it was probably for the best that she stayed away, knowing that Stefan or Damon were on patrol, but she wanted to see her. She wanted to see the vampire that appeared before her with mystery and danger and who she has grown to be comfortable with. Elena enjoyed Katherine's company and even though it probably wasn't the same from Katherine's perspective, Elena wanted the vampire around.

Elena always felt like Stefan was holding something back from her; a part of him that he refuses to show her. Damon always puts up numerous fronts and hides behind lies and insecurities and trust issues. But Katherine doesn't care what others see; she doesn't hide parts of her and doesn't bother changing who she is for other people's benefits. No more than the average person, anyway. She could see that Katherine hid behind walls and her bitchy side seemed more like a mask rather than who she actually was, and Elena wanted to know the real Katherine.

Elena sighed as she lay back on her bed, staring at her ceiling. She waited all night but Katherine never showed.


End file.
